Are we treating Urinary Tract Infections right

Are we treating Urinary Tract Infections right

Overview

  • Post By : Kumar Jeetendra

  • Source: MBI Bureau

  • Date: 23 Feb,2018

Infections are as old as mankind. The discovery of antibiotics gave us the power to control infections. Bacteriae were smarter to develop ways to escape action of antibiotics and that’s what we now call as Antibiotic resistance. The antibiotic resistance spread far and wide and currently is one of the main concerns plaguing the medical fraternity. Antibiotic resistance has forced us to treat common infections with stronger and costlier antibiotics. This means the patient has to spend more in terms of buying costlier antibiotics and also for the extended hospital stay in some cases. Millions of dollars are spent every year to devise methods to combat antibiotic resistance. International agencies like the CDC& WHO have worked out the reasons for the emerging antibiotic resistance. Few reasons postulated by experts are misuse of antibiotics, uncontrolled over the counter sale of antibiotics and use of antibiotics in animal husbandry.

Indian perspective

The way ahead is to devise a uniformNational antibiotic policy so that few life saving antibiotics are reserved at the times of need. India has already taken its baby steps towards formation of an antibiotic surveillance network. Initially the data available from the premier institutes like PGI Chandigarh, AIIMS, JIPMER& CMC Vellore will be analysed.

India has realised the need to take steps to prevent further spread of antibiotic resistance. The way ahead is to devise a uniformNational antibiotic policy so that few life saving antibiotics are reserved at the times of need. India has already taken its baby steps towards formation of an antibiotic surveillance network. Initially the data available from the premier institutes like PGI Chandigarh, AIIMS, JIPMER& CMC Vellore will be analysed. In the next stage all antibiotic resistance data will be collected from Government Medical colleges and hospitals. The need to involve all the private institutions has been well recognised and will be involved as well. By analysing the whole data a presumptive antibiotic policy can be drafted so that the clinician can handle the patients better.

Urinary tract infections

There are many types of infections affecting human beings. The most common is the urinary tract infection (UTI). UTI is more common in females. UTI can be classified as upper and lower UTI. CAUTI (Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection) emerged along the advent of medical devices came. The medical advances have given us better life expectancy but along with it rises spread of infections within the hospital. Such a urinary infection which a patient acquires in a health care set up after 48hours of admission is termed as Nosocomial UTI. In most cases it is due to the lapses in infection control. Hand washing is considered the most important step in order to prevent inadv

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