Antibiotic Resistance - A study of antiviotics used in relation to guidelines and resistance pattern at Kannur Medical College Super Speciality Hospital, Kannur, India

Background Antibiotics are used to treat and prevent bacterial infections. Resistance to antibiotics occurs naturally, but misuse accelerates the process. India has the largest total consumption of antibiotics in the world. A high burden of infection diseases, cheap unregulated sales of antibiotics and overuse of antibiotics in the health-care sector are all factors that contribute to the problem. Aim The aim of the study is to investigate how antibiotics are used at Kannur Medical College. It will look into resistance patterns and analyze if there are any differences in the treatment between men and women. Method Patients were collected at Kannur Medical College, Super Speciality Hospital. Information about the patients and their antibiotic treatments were collected from medical records. Information on cultures sent for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST), found pathogen and resistance patterns were collected at the microbiology laboratory. The nurses asked the patients if they had taken any antibiotics before getting admitted. Results The most common infections were pneumonia and urinary tract infections (UTI). The antibiotics that were most frequently used were broad-spectrum penicillins (BSP), and cephalosporins. Samples for AST were sent for 57% of the patients and 21 pathogens were found. The doctors changed antibiotics after getting the result of the AST in 50% of the cases. Out of the pathogen found, 80% showed resistance patterns that would have to be reported to Folkhälsomyndigheten if they were found in Sweden. Almost all antibiotics prescribed were in accordance with the national guidelines. Conclusion The main problem is that cultures are not taken in an optimal way and that they are not sent for AST as a routine. Furthermore, the results are not always used to change into narrower antibiotics and thereby limit the development of multi-resistant bacteria (MRB)