Why are Incomplete Antibiotic courses more dangerous than you think?
Due to the incomplete or unnecessary use of antibiotics, Pakistani citizens are at increasing risk of antimicrobial resistance.
According to medical experts, 200,000 to 300,000 people in the country die every year directly or indirectly due to drug-resistant infections, while the number of patients in ICUs whose infections are caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria has also increased. Doctors warn that if the current situation continues, according to estimates by the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance could cause up to 10 million deaths worldwide annually by 2050.
In this regard, Professor Dr. Saeed Khan, Head of the Molecular Pathology Laboratory at Dow University of Health Sciences, told media that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites mutate over time and develop resistance to drugs, as a result of which the treatment of the infection becomes difficult or sometimes impossible.
He said that antimicrobial resistance is a global threat because it prolongs the duration of the disease, increases the cost of treatment, increases the risk of complications in treatment and mortality. This situation is also seriously endangering the fields of surgery, chemotherapy and intensive care.
He said that according to WHO estimates, if this problem is not controlled, by 2050, antibiotic resistance could cause 10 million deaths worldwide every year.
According to Professor Dr. Saeed Khan, Pakistan is among the countries that are at high risk of antibiotic resistance. The major reasons for this include the use of antibiotics without prescription, incomplete or unnecessary use of medicines, poor infection control arrangements in hospitals, inappropriate use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry, and weak monitoring and reporting systems.
He said that the most resistant bacteria in major hospitals in Karachi include Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and XDR Salmonella typhi. These bacteria are proving to be more dangerous in diseases such as urinary tract infections, ICU infections and typhoid. Bacterial pneumonia has become more deadly after the flu because first-line antibiotics often become ineffective, which delays effective treatment and increases the severity of the disease. The risk of AMR is higher in children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
He said that MDR Gram-negative infections and XDR Typhoid have become a major challenge in the ICUs, neonatal units, surgical wards, TB and infection wards of Karachi hospitals.
Dr. Saeed Khan added that Pakistan is among the countries in the world where the burden of tuberculosis (TB) is highest, while multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB has become an urgent problem. Such patients require long and expensive treatment for 18 to 24 months, while the risk of treatment failure and mortality is also significantly higher.
He said that according to various studies, 40 to 70 percent of patients in the ICUs of major public and private hospitals in the country suffer from infections that are spread by multidrug-resistant bacteria, mostly gram-negative bacteria, which further complicates the treatment.
Microbiologist Dr. Syeda Sadaf Akbar said that Pakistan ranks 29th out of 204 countries in terms of antibiotic resistance, while according to various data, 200,000 to 300,000 people die directly or indirectly due to AMR in Pakistan every year. The rate of antibiotic resistance is increasing annually, data shows that it is increasing by 5 to 15 percent in the world.
Read also: Five dangerous habits, which can ruin intestinal health
