Antibiotics for seasonal cold, cough will not work: IMA

Industry Desk: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has advised against the intake of antibiotics during seasonal cold and cough amid patients having symptoms ranging from nausea, vomiting, fever, body ache among others. Citing the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), it said fever that goes away at the end of three days with persisting cough for up to three weeks are mostly cases of H3N2 influenza virus. The IMA further suggested symptomatic treatment – medical therapy or medication that affects the symptoms – for these colds and coughs and avoid taking antibiotics. The medical body further recommended diagnosing whether the infection is bacterial or not before prescribing antibiotics.
“But right now, people start taking antibiotics like Azithromycin and Amoxiclavetc, that too without caring for done and frequency and stop it once start feeling better. This need to be stopped as it leads to antibiotic resistance. Whenever there will be a real use of antibiotics, they will not work due to the resistance,” IMA said in a statement.
It further noted that several antibiotics are being prescribed by physicians despite not having relevant symptoms. It said around 70% of diarrhoea cases are viral in nature, however, physicians prescribe antibiotics for such conditions.
“The most misused antibiotics are amoxicillin, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin. These are being used for diarrhoea and for UTI (urinary tract infection),” it added.