Give only symptomatic treatment and avoid antibiotics: IMA amid rise in seasonal flu

Guwahati, March 4: Taking cognisance of the sudden spike in the number of patients with cough, nausea, vomiting, sore throat and fever, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in a notice shared on Twitter advised people and medical practitioners to avoid the prescription of antibiotics. 

The IMA stated that the sudden spike in fever cases in India and most of these cases are of Influenza, a subtype H3N2 and people down with this infection are having symptoms of cough, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, fever, body ache, and diarrhoea.  

According to the notice issued by the IMA Standing Committee for Anti-Microbial Resistance, the infection usually lasts for about five to seven days. The fever goes away at the end of three days, but the cough can persist for upto three weeks. 

"It is common to have seasonal cold or cough during October to February period, because of influenza and other viruses. Mostly it occurs in people above the age of 50 and below 15 years. People develop upper respiratory infection along with fever. Air pollution is one of the precipitating factors," the notice said. 

The notice further directed practitioners to give only symptomatic treatment and avoid antibiotics. It further warned that unnecessary usage of antibiotics should be stopped as it leads to antibiotic resistance. It said that this medicine will stop working when there is a real use of it. 

“People start taking antibiotics like Azythromycin and Amoxyclav, etc, that too without caring for dose and frequency and stop it once start feeling better. This needs to be stopped as it leads to antibiotic resistance. Whenever there will be a real use of antibiotics, they will not work due to resistance,” the notice further read.

Several other antibiotics are being misused for certain conditions and are developing resistance among patients. For instance, 70% of diarrhoea cases are viral diagnoses, for which antibiotics are not needed but are being prescribed by doctors, the notice added.

The most misused antibiotics are amoxicillin, norfloxacin, oprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin. These are being used for diarrhoea and for UTI. We have already seen widespread use of anthromycin and ivermectin during Covid and this too has led to resistance, it is necessary to diagnose whether the infection is bacterial or not before prescribing antibiotics. It further advised people to practice self-control and regulation for the prevention of infection and avoid crowded places. Practice good hand and respiratory hygiene and take vaccination, IMA advised in its notice.