There are many lessons to be learnt from the case of a strain of colistin-resistant E.Coli bacteria being spotted in the United States. There are other bacterial pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumoniae , Acinetobacter baumannii , Staphylococcus aureus , and Pseudomonas aeruginosa , equally posing a challenge to therapeutic options. The World Health Organisation, in 2011, made an appeal to all UN member countries to fight the menace of antibiotic resistance. The Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP)-India Working Group has been interacting with India in this connection. Taking this further, State governments must equip all district-level government hospitals with a sophisticated microbiology laboratory which also includes a scanning electron microscope. It will take a long time before there is effective control of the use of antibiotics in the animal husbandry and agricultural sectors. The media need to create awareness and initiate a debate on the crucial issue of antibiotic resistance.
Dr. C. Meenakshisundaram,
Puducherry
