Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 27th April. World health Organization said on Friday that antibiotics saw “extensive overuse” globally among hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the pandemic without improving clinical outcomes also potentially increasing the serious and growing threat of antimicrobial resistance from “superbugs.”
WHO noted in an alert that 8% of hospitalized coronavirus patients also had bacterial infections which can be treated with antibiotics, a staggering three in four were given them on a “just in case” basis.
WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris insisted that at no point during the global pandemic did the WHO recommend using antibiotics to treat the coronavirus COVID-19.
“The advice was very clear from the start, that this was a virus. So it wasn’t that there was any guidance or any recommendation that that clinicians go in this direction, but perhaps because people were dealing with something completely new, they were looking for whatever they thought might be appropriate.”
According to the who antibiotic use ranged from 33 per cent for patients in the Western Pacific Region to 83 per cent in the Eastern Mediterranean and the African Regions. Between 2020 and 2022, prescriptions decreased over time in Europe and the Americas, but they increased in Africa.
Data compiled by WHO indicated that most antibiotics were given to critically ill COVID-19 patients at a global average of 81 per cent.
Antibiotic use in mild or moderate infections showed considerable variation across regions, with highest use in Africa, at 79 per cent.
UN agency found that the most frequently prescribed bacteria-busting antibiotics globally were those with higher potential for antimicrobial resistance o antibiotics.
Dr . Silvia Bertagnolio WHO Unit Head for Surveillance Evidence and Laboratory Strengthening, Division for AMR said “When a patient requires antibiotics, the benefits often outweigh the risks associated with side effects or antibiotic resistance. However, when they are unnecessary, they offer no benefit while posing risks, and their use contributes to the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance.”
WHO report maintained that antibiotic use did not improve clinical outcomes for patients with COVID-19.
WHO said in a statement that their systematic prescription “might create harm for people without bacterial infection, compared to those not receiving antibiotics.”
“These data call for improvements in the rational use of antibiotics to minimize unnecessary negative consequences for patients and populations.”
The findings were based on data from the WHO Global Clinical Platform for COVID-19, a database of anonymous clinical data from patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Data came from 450,000 patients in 65 countries from January 2020 to March 2023.
Antimicrobial resistance threatens the prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.
It occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.
Antimicrobials including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs” it concluded.
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