Two out of Three Healthy Indians Resistant to Antibiotics: Study

A study has revealed that two out of three healthy individuals are now resistant to common antibiotics.

Increasing bacterial resistance to antimicrobial drugs is a growing public health concern.

(Photo: iStockphoto)

A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research has revealed that two out of three healthy individuals are now resistant to common antibiotics. The findings are alarming, making the treatment of common infectious diseases difficult and complex.

According to a Times of India report, the researchers examined stool samples of 2017 individuals who had not consumed antibiotics for at least a month and had not suffered from any chronic health condition. They found antibiotic-resistant organisms living in the digestive tracts of almost 70 percent of them.

Dr Pallab Ray, professor of medicine microbiology at PGI Chandigarh who led the study, said, “Our study shows how inappropriate use of antibiotics has transformed the healthy human intestinal gut flora (microorganisms living in the digestive tract) into a reservoir of antibiotic-resistant organisms.”

At present, these organisms are resistant to low-end antibiotics but if the the misuse persists, these may become resistant to high-end antibiotics as well

Dr Pallab Ray

Notably, the resistance was maximum against the two most commonly used antibiotics: cephalosphorins and fluoroquinolones.

Earlier, another report released by Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG) concluded that by 2030, antimicrobial resistance could force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty.

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing problem in India and is making it particularly hard to treat diseases like Tuberculosis (TB), childhood sepsis and malaria. It is estimated that annually at least 700,000 deaths occur from antibiotic-resistant infections in low- and middle-income countries. This includes 230,000 people who die from multidrug-resistant TB.