Siliguri, March 27: Popping antibiotics indiscriminately is helping disease-producing bacteria become increasingly drug-resistant, putting Siliguri’s public health in jeopardy.

This has been established by a recent study by scientists at the molecular microbiology unit of North Bengal University’s botany department. The team was led by Randhir Chakraborty.

“We collected water samples from two sites of the Mahananda river and from two open drains in two congested wards,” Chakraborty said. “We tested them for seven types of antibiotics and the result was alarming (see chart).”

The study of multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) profile of the bacterial isolates has been going on for five years. “Over this period, although the bacterial density has shown a slight dip in the river water, the percentage of drug-resistant bacteria have shot up.”

The percentage of drug-resistant bacteria in drain water is much higher (almost five to ten times) than in the river. The two drain samples showed 98.8 and 100 per cent of drug resistant bacteria.

The scientists found that the percentage of Ampicillin-resistant bacteria is the highest, although the latest finding in 2008 suggests a dip in its percentage in the Mahananda river water sample. “In one of the drain water samples, we found that as high as 16 per cent of bacterial isolate was resistant to Ampicillin,” said Chakraborty.

“We also carried out a random survey of retail medicine sales across counters and found indiscriminate use of antibiotics, both with and without doctors’ prescriptions,” the scientist added.

“Sometimes even doctors are impatient,” said a general physician. “For speedy recovery, they tend to opt for higher antibiotic doses”

“Often patients do not complete the course of the antibiotic as prescribed and they develop a resistance,” said Samar Deb, vice-president of the Indian Medical Association’s Siliguri unit.

The survey found that 58 per cent of the retailers sold antibiotics without prescription and the highest sold self-medicated antibiotics were Ampicillin and Cloxacillin.

“If the trend continues, treating even diarrhoea will require a lot of resources. We are already getting patients who are showing delayed responses to antibiotics,” a doctor said.