ICMR: Avoid antibiotics for low-grade fever

Source: The post is based on the article “ICMR: Avoid antibiotics for low-grade fever” published in TOI on 27th November 2022.

What is the News?

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has called upon doctors to avoid using antibiotics for conditions such as low-grade fever and viral bronchitis among others.

Why has ICMR advised not to use antibiotics for low-grade fever?

ICMR conducted a multi-centre survey to determine the nationwide trend in antibiotic resistance.

It found that a large number of patients were no longer benefitting from the use of certain antibiotics as they have developed anti-microbial resistance to them.

For instance, it found that Acinetobacter baumannii, a gram-negative bacteria known to cause infection in the blood, urinary tract and lungs among others, was resistant to high-end antibiotics like carbapenems.

What are the guidelines issued by ICMR on antibiotics?

Doctors should avoid using antibiotics for conditions such as low-grade fever and viral bronchitis among others.

A stop date should be recorded to ensure that antibiotics are not continued beyond the recommended duration. 

Antibiotics should be prescribed for a duration of five days for skin and soft tissue infections, five days in case of community-acquired pneumonia, and eight days for hospital-acquired pneumonia.

What is Gram Positive and Gram Negative Bacteria?

Gram-positive and Gram-negative are two distinct types of bacteria. People categorize these types based on their structures and their appearance after Gram staining. 

Note: Gram staining is a process of dying bacteria and then viewing them beneath a microscope.

The key differences between Gram Positive and Gram Negative Bacteria are,