ICMR studies data to fight drug-resistant infections
Roli Srivastava
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Pune:
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Antibiotic resistance data from four big hospitals s being studied and analysed or the first time in India to help forecast drug-resistance patterns that may surface in uture.The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has been on the resistance trail since last year. It had set up six nodal centres at four hospitals -two at PGI, Chandigarh, and Christian Medical College, Vellore, and one each at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi and JIPMER, Puducherry .
The ICMR's antimicrobial surveillance and research network has been tracking resistance pattern of six pathogens causing diarrhoea, typhoid, fungal nfections and infections that patients acquire in hospitals.
“We initiated these pro ects in early 2014 and we are now analysing the first year's data. We did not have a nationally representative data on pathogens that cause 80% of infections. It is important to get a handle on what is the drug resistance prevalence n these six pathogenic groups,“ said Dr Kamini Wa lia from the division of epidemiology and communicable diseases, ICMR.
The data will be used to forecast the drug-resistance pattern to guide clinicians, she added.
There is alarm over rising resistance to antibiotics in India, largely attributed to their indiscriminate use to treat routine infections like cough, cold and fever and their over-the-counter availability. Using antibiotics inappropriately , such as stopping the dosage mid-course has added to the resistance.
There are broad estimates and observations so far -resistance to carbapenem (the strongest class of antibiotic) is 50 to 60% and in the case of acenotobacter (a hospital bug) seen among ICU patients, the resistance is 70 to 80%.However, there is no accurate resistance data, with most hospitals not reporting such figures, fearing an impact on patients' footfall.
“The project would help design a standard treatment guideline and physicians will be able to decide what antibiotic should be given,“ Dr Walia said.
The surveillance and research network will expand to 15 more hospitals across the country , which will feed their data into these centres that will in turn map the resistance pattern.
“In India, there are no statistics. Anyone who comes to the clinic or OPD is not tested for microbiological examination. A test is conducted only in the case of in-patients,“ V Balaji, head of microbiology , CMC, Vellore said.
Though there is an antibiotic policy in place since 2011, officials said that surveys have revealed the compliance was restricted only a to few hospitals.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia..com
The ICMR's antimicrobial surveillance and research network has been tracking resistance pattern of six pathogens causing diarrhoea, typhoid, fungal nfections and infections that patients acquire in hospitals.
“We initiated these pro ects in early 2014 and we are now analysing the first year's data. We did not have a nationally representative data on pathogens that cause 80% of infections. It is important to get a handle on what is the drug resistance prevalence n these six pathogenic groups,“ said Dr Kamini Wa lia from the division of epidemiology and communicable diseases, ICMR.
The data will be used to forecast the drug-resistance pattern to guide clinicians, she added.
There is alarm over rising resistance to antibiotics in India, largely attributed to their indiscriminate use to treat routine infections like cough, cold and fever and their over-the-counter availability. Using antibiotics inappropriately , such as stopping the dosage mid-course has added to the resistance.
There are broad estimates and observations so far -resistance to carbapenem (the strongest class of antibiotic) is 50 to 60% and in the case of acenotobacter (a hospital bug) seen among ICU patients, the resistance is 70 to 80%.However, there is no accurate resistance data, with most hospitals not reporting such figures, fearing an impact on patients' footfall.
“The project would help design a standard treatment guideline and physicians will be able to decide what antibiotic should be given,“ Dr Walia said.
The surveillance and research network will expand to 15 more hospitals across the country , which will feed their data into these centres that will in turn map the resistance pattern.
“In India, there are no statistics. Anyone who comes to the clinic or OPD is not tested for microbiological examination. A test is conducted only in the case of in-patients,“ V Balaji, head of microbiology , CMC, Vellore said.
Though there is an antibiotic policy in place since 2011, officials said that surveys have revealed the compliance was restricted only a to few hospitals.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia..com
