Srinagar: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Friday said hospitals in Kashmir are flooded with deadly bacteria that are resistant to all antibiotics.
“Kashmir hospitals have turned into breeding grounds for resistant microbes endangering the safety of patients,” said DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan.
“SMHS hospital is harboring bugs like Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Klebseilla and Escherichia coli that are resistant to all antibiotics,” he said.
“Even last-resort antibiotics like carbapenems and colistin do not work against these deadly microbes,” he added.
DAK President said as per 2017-18 Antibiogram of SKIMS hospital, more than 80% of bacteria isolated from intensive care units were resistant to imipenem which is the last-line antibiotic.
“The most common isolates were gram negative microbes and they were found to have 100% resistance to ceftriaxone, another high-end antibiotic,” he said
“An increasing trend over the years in the antibiotic-resistant strains was observed in a prospective study at SKIMS,” he added.
Dr Nisar said patients go to hospitals to get well, but instead contract hospital bugs and die.
These bugs aren’t limited to hospitals, they are out in the community and anyone, even healthy people, can become infected.
“Lack of infection control measures and poor sanitation in hospitals provide favorable conditions for resistant microorganisms to emerge, spread and persist,” he said.
“In hospitals patients are given antibiotics without appropriate testing to match their bacterial infection,” Dr Nisar said adding that inappropriate and irrational use of antibiotics has helped the microbes to evolve into resistant strains.
He said patients are dying of simple infections like pneumonia, urinary tract infection and diarrhea as no antibiotic works. We are kind of back to the era of not having antibiotics.
“With no antibiotics, cancer chemotherapy, organ transplantation and simple surgery will become impossible and we are facing a future where cough or cut can kill once again,” cautioned Dr Nisar.
