Misusing or overusing most antibiotics could make a person resistant to the medicines when they most need them.
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As the flu spreads, consider the risks of overusing antibiotics
Carol Mueni has been careful not to catch the flu that is now ravaging the country. When she went home for Christmas, the bug finally found a temporary home in her body.
“I was irritated because I have been very careful. I used to wear two masks instead of one and kept away from anyone I suspected had caught the cold. It started with a crispy throat, sneezing and then a runny nose,” Carol says.
Sensing indications of a cold, she went to the nearest chemist in Tassia, Nairobi, to get medicine.
“I asked my friend who had felt better in two days the type of drugs she took. When I went to the chemist, I was specific on what I wanted, even without a prescription from a doctor.”
She bought azithromycin, cetirizine and a painkiller. Like her friend, the flu went away in two days, and when she spoke to the Nation, she was okay.
But there’s more than meets the eye. What dangers does self-medication, especially of antibiotics, pose?
In February, Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter proposed a bill that would enforce the ban on buying medicine without a doctor’s prescription.
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board has time and again advised against self-medication, but with the ongoing flu, many Kenyans have been visiting chemists with specific demands.
Misusing or overusing most antibiotics could make a person resistant to the medicines when they most need them.
The World Health Organization calls this phenomenon antimicrobial resistance.
“Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death,” explains the WHO.
Providing better diagnostic support
“Antibiotics are becoming increasingly ineffective as drug-resistance spreads globally leading to more difficult to treat infections and death.”
A study conducted in Kenyan public hospitals and published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases shows that less than one per cent of antibiotics prescriptions are supported by laboratory data.
“Lack of laboratory support influences prescription patterns and choice. This results in most of the treatment being broad-spectrum, also encouraging polypharmacy (use of multiple medicine), and may fuel drug resistance,” the study says.
Even as the lab route is preferred in the medical field, the study says that the high cost of investigations, long waits for results and sometimes inaccurate results can be challenging.
But the study says the cost of healthcare would increase if effective lab tests were conducted for every antibiotics prescription.
“Many patients did not have a recorded diagnosis that warranted an antibiotic prescription, and there is a strong indication that physical availability of guidelines may influence treatment appropriateness positively,” the study says.
“This situation may be improved by (providing) treatment guidelines across all the departments and providing better diagnostic support and training for clinicians.”
Another study, conducted in Ghana and published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, shows that the inappropriate use of antibiotics results from the sellers’ profit motive.
“In our study context where self-medication is common, community members opt to purchase medicines including antibiotics from over-the-counter and drug peddlers because medicines could sometimes be obtained on credit,” the study explains.
“As indicated earlier, these medicine sellers who are largely influenced by financial gains sometimes dispense less antibiotics than required when clients cannot afford a full course leading to inappropriate use.”
