Imagine this- you have a sore throat, some flu like symptoms, cough and fatigue with some phlegm formation too. You get worried because the symptoms don’t seem to go away in a couple days and it has started to negatively affect your routine. So, you decide it is time to pop some pills and get right back to work. If you continue taking antibiotics often in the same manner, even for viral infections, you are setting yourself up to become resistant to antibiotics in the future. Then what happens?
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW)
To combat this worldwide phenomenon and especially in India- which has some of the highest number of cases of AMR (antimicrobial resistance) in the world, this awareness week needs more focus to help achieve its main goal- to help people understand how and why antibiotics are used and also to show them when antibiotics must NOT be used. This way, antibiotics will still work when prescribed for certain infections. This issue of resistance has become much more prolific after the COVID-19 pandemic, due to indiscriminate and unnecessary usage of antibiotics for a viral infection. Some infections get so out of hand that they cannot be treated, in which case they are termed ‘superbug infections’.
The WAAW or World AMR Week can be thought of as an antibiotic awareness campaign in its truest essence. In India, over 4.95 million individuals have lost their lives due to AMR in 2019 and the numbers are only higher at present. Antibiotics are commonly prescribed to beat a handful of pathogens which cause conditions like TB, abdominal and peritoneal infections, diarrhoea and UTIs respectively.
The Theme For WAAW 2024
This year, the theme is ‘Educate. Advocate. Act Now!’ This ties in very well with the fundamental teachings of this campaign. At present, this weekly event has been renamed The World AMR Week by the WHO in 2023. It was first initiated in 2015 and since then has become a global event to help policymakers, doctors and the public understand the dangers of unregulated antibiotic usage.
Reasons For AMR To Occur
Antimicrobial resistance can occur due to a variety of reasons:
- Wrong usage of antibiotics for viral infections.
- Using antibiotics that have been prescribed for someone else
- Antibiotics work in very specific ways and they are of different types- broad spectrum and otherwise. A doctor will be able to help prescribe the right kind for your condition and symptoms.
- Following proper hygiene and cleanliness when not feeling well or for wound care is also important and can reduce the probability of you having to use other drugs to get better.
- In India, the pharma industry is not highly regulated.
- High amounts of pesticide usage can exacerbate this issue in the population over a long period of time.
Conclusion
When you really require antibiotics to treat an infection, they won’t work and your symptoms will just get worse, leading to hospitalisation or other complications in the worst case scenario. So, here, you have two major reasons why resistance can occur- overuse or taking them too often and misuse- using them in the wrong way. The dangers of antibiotic resistance are simple, but can have lasting effects for everyone involved. So, don’t be pill happy and see if you can cope with your symptoms with some rest and much needed TLC.