KOLKATA: Two Kolkata-based medical students recently won the WHO ’s global competition for designing solutions to antibiotic resistance.

NRS Medical College and Hospital third-year students Digbijoy Bose and Satarupa Mukherjee are now in Geneva, presenting their papers on “innovative solutions for antimicrobial stewardship in resource-limited healthcare settings” at ‘Innovate4AMR’.

For long, doctors have been sounding the alarm regarding patients no longer responding to antimicrobial agents ( antibiotics ). This year, WHO, along with ReAct (Action on Antibiotic Resistance) and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Association decided to organize a competition, seeking ways to counter the phenomenon.

Digbijoy and Satarupa’s team was among the 11 selected worldwide. WHO had received 1,100 entries for the three-day workshop on antimicrobial resistance that started on Wednesday.

NRS hospital’s head of community medicine Indira Dey said, “Since Penicillin ’s discovery in 1928, the use of antibiotics has increased exponentially. We are proud that our students’ contributions will figure in the preventive measures that will be prescribed by the world’s highest health body.”

Satarupta and Digbijoy want to be surgeons. “Doctors are terrified that even routine operations will become impossible with the rise of drug-resistant genes,” rued Satarupa. Digbijoy said, “We have shown how antibiotics purchasemapping system (identifying points of inappropriate use of antibiotics at consumer, pharmacist and healthcare service provider level) along with consumer awareness drives would help tackle the crisis.”

Over-prescription of antibiotic drugs is just one of the reasons, say doctors. “Commonly prescribed antibiotics are becoming less effective due to a number of reasons — overuse of the same drugs, failing to complete the prescribed course by a doctor and use of antibiotics in farming,” said paediatric consultant Subrata Chakraborty.

If patients have viral infections like common cold and not bacterial ones, the antibiotics are ineffective and unnecessary. “Patients should always complete the prescribed course of antibiotics every time. This ensures all bacteria are killed and none can subsequently mutate and produce ‘resistant’ strains,” NRS college principal Saibal Mukherjee said. This is potentially harmful, as random mutations can occur, which can lead to antibiotic resistance. Mukherjee also blamed it on “irrational prescriptions by doctors.”

In 2010, India was the world’s largest consumer of antibiotics for human health. “The convergence of factors such as poor public health infrastructure , a high burden of disease, and cheap, unregulated sale of antibiotics has created ideal conditions for a rapid rise in resistant infections in India,” said Digbijoy.

In fact, over-the-counter and non-prescription sale of antibiotics in India is among the highest in the world. “Improving regulation of drug production and sales and encouraging behaviour change among doctors and patients are urgent,” he said.

