Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): A Globally Serious Concern

Pashu Sandesh, 13 July 2022

Dr Nitesh Chand Sharma^1*, Dr Jayesh Vyas², Dr Pradeep Makawana³

¹Consultant, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and dairying, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi

²M.V.Sc. in Animal Genetics and Breeding

³Department of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Officer, Lambia, Pali, Rajasthan

*Corresponding author: sharma.nitesh1220@gmail.com

One of the main public health issues is resistance to antibiotics, particularly in developing nations where the relatively easy availability and higher drug usage have resulted in a massively higher occurrence of inappropriate antibiotic use and elevated numbers of resistance compared to developed nations.

• India has one of the highest exposure to infectious disorders in the world, and a recent study revealed that these infections were being treated with antibiotics ineffectively and irrationally, which accelerated the emergence of antibiotic resistance.
• Additionally, it has been demonstrated that India's health system suffers from a severe lack of public funding, creating the ideal environment for the emergence of drug resistance.
• In order to reduce antibiotic resistance in India, it is crucial to regulate antibiotic usage, according to recent research. The antibiotic resistance in bacteria is generally a natural phenomenon for adaptation to antimicrobial agents. When bacteria develop resistance to an antibiotic, they can either horizontally or vertically transfer this ability to their descendants. Antibiotics are being used carelessly and irrationally, which has resulted in the emergence of novel resistant bacterial strains that are somewhat more deadly than their parent strains.
• As per the report of the WHO (World Health Organization), resistance was more prevalent in cases of bacterial infections which cause most of the deadly infectious bacterial infections worldwide such as respiratory tract infections, diarrhoea, meningitis, syphilis, gonorrhoea and tuberculosis.
• The severity of drug resistance is an alarming situation for scientific and medical professionals, who must search for alternative treatments or develop new drugs to combat drug-resistant bacteria. There is an urgent need for medical assistance in treating these resistant bacteria. 
• The empirical use of antibiotics is one of the factors that contribute to the increase in drug resistance. At times, people use antibiotics without knowing the importance of taking a full course of antibiotics. After taking 2–3 doses of a particular antibiotic, they feel better and then discontinue the course. The second line or third generation of a medicine is usually far more expensive than the first line, making it impossible to effectively treat many diseases without financial support.
• In the present scenario, some diseases are emerging which are difficult to control by available antimicrobial agents such as XDR strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Swine flu, Dengue and Japanese encephalitis. 
• There are some antimicrobial drugs which can be used for the treatment of these diseases; however, there are some irreversible side effects associated with them such as liver damage, kidney failure, strokes etc. There is some optimism like that in some herbal medicines that can be utilised for the cure of such deadly diseases as a result of the significant rise in the investigation of plant-based medications in recent years.
• Traditional medicines, including plants, have emerged as a boon in medical sciences as they are readily available and have almost no side effects.