With Coronavirus raging in the world, a lot of right and wrong information related to it is also spreading at the same speed.

If not, why is it being given to COVID patients?

In what situations is it given?

What are the antibiotic guidelines?

What about the side effects of antibiotics in the body?

FIT speaks to experts to find out.

Medicines that kill bacteria are called antibiotics, or rather antibiotics treat disease by killing or debilitating bacteria.

Therefore, Antibiotics are used to treat various infections caused by bacteria.

The trouble is that COVID-19 is caused by a virus and not a bacteria.

According to the new COVID guidelines, Ivermectin was removed from the official guidelines in June 2021 after scientific evidence found that the antiparasitic drug did not help in the treatment of COVID.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have all warned against using Ivermectin as a treatment or prophylactic (prophylactic).

Many drugs that were recommended for experimental use to treat COVID-19 in the second wave have now been removed from official guidelines after they proved ineffective in the treatment of COVID-19.

These include hydroxychloroquine, Doxycycline and plasma treatment. However, some of them are still being prescribed.

Antibiotics should be used according to national and international guidelines.

"But, if the patient has a secondary bacterial infection due to COVID-19, then antibiotics are given in such a situation. Whenever there is a viral disease, the immunity of the people gets weakened due to which many times secondary bacterial infection occurs, then antibiotics are given to the patient” adds Dr Vikas Maurya, Director and HOD Pulmonologist, Fortis Hospital , Shalimar Bagh, Delhi.

When FIT asked Dr Vikas Maurya about the side effects, he said, “All the medicines we use, be it antibiotics or antivirals, all have some side effects. When it comes to antibiotics, minor side effects such as stomach problems often occur, which in most cases remain under control.

Sometimes, overuse of antibiotics leads to the formation of resistant bacteria in the patient, due to which antibiotics have to be used to fight the disease. Therefore, use antibiotics only where necessary, says Dr Vikas Maurya.