Antibiotics widely overused during ‘COVID-19’ : UN health agency

New York (USA) – In an alert, WHO noted that although just 8% of hospitalised coronavirus patients also had bacterial infections which could be treated with antibiotics, a staggering three in four were given them on a ‘just in case’ basis.

1. Viruses, bacteria and other parasites develop antibiotic resistance over time. In such cases, antibiotics and other life-saving drugs may not be effective against many types of infections. Antimicrobials – including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitic – are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Micro- organisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as ‘superbugs’. Judicious use of antibiotics is important to prevent the emergence and spread of ‘superbugs’.

2. At no point during the global pandemic did the UN health agency recommend using antibiotics to treat COVID-19, insisted  WHO  spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris. “The advice was very clear from the start that this was a virus. So, it wasn’t that there was any guidance or any recommendation that clinicians go in this direction, but perhaps because people were dealing with something completely new, they were looking for whatever they thought might
be appropriate.”

3. The UN health agency report maintained that antibiotic use ‘did not improve clinical outcomes for patients with COVID-19’. Instead, their systematic prescription might create harm for people without bacterial infection, compared to those not receiving antibiotics, but patients were still given medicines, WHO said in a statement.

4. The United Nations health experts emphasised that, these data call for improvements in the rational use of antibiotics to minimise unnecessary negative consequences for patients and populations.