Viral infections are on the rise in the city as a result of which people are rushing to doctors. Even as people have been complaining of symptoms such as sore throat, cough, cold, fever and body pains, doctors have cautioned against the use of antibiotics as viruses do not respond to those.
It is common to have seasonal cold or cough during the October to February period, because of influenza and other viruses. In the past few months, people have been going easy on mask usage with a gradual drop in COVID-19 cases, and are therefore, getting exposed to infection easily, say doctors.
City-based general physician Pakhal Saketha has come across a number of cases in the past few days. People have approached her for treatment for cough, cold, throat pain and high grade fever. Some of them are getting better within a day or two, but on the other hand, others are taking a week or two to recover. Supportive treatment is prescribed to them based on their symptoms.
Speaking about the use of antibiotics, she says, “For a viral infection, antibiotics are not needed unless the symptoms do not subside even after weeks, and there is a superimposed infection. Right now, due to easy availability of drugs after COVID-19, everybody has stocked up on antibiotics like Azithromycin and Amoxiclav, and they are just popping it without any prescription. The worst part is that people do not complete the dose; they stop it once they start feeling better. In the next few years, we will be fine but in the future, drugs won’t work on us due to overuse of antibiotics.”
Head of General Medicine, Kamineni Hospitals, M.Swamy says they are getting about 60-75 patients in a day. “Most of them have symptoms of cold, headache and loose motions. Sometimes, it starts with loose motions and then moves on to fever and headache. Mostly, a probiotic is given to patients with loose motions. After checking the platelet count of patients with fever, appropriate medicine is prescribed,” adds Dr.Swamy.
Senior general physician and diabetologist at Yashoda Hospitals-Secunderabad M.Sheetal Kumar says indiscriminate use of antibiotics should be avoided as they create unnecessary antibiotic resistance. “Whenever there is a real use of antibiotics, they will not work due to the resistance,” he cautions.
