The next time you want your child to make it to school with fever, don?t pester the doctor for a dose of antibiotic. Your child might end up being drug-resistant at a premature age.
If this sounds far-fetched, it?s time for a reality check. An increasing number of children between 13 and 16 years are becoming drug-resistant, thanks to parental pressure and irrational use of drugs.
?Even for simple viral fevers or cold and cough, parents press doctors for strong antibiotics. Every parent wants that his child not lose even a day,? said Nupur Ganguly of the Institute of Child Health.
The problem has reached such alarming proportions that experts in child health have, for the first time, decided to thrash the issue of drug resistance among kids at the national conference of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, to be held in the city.
Besides ways to treat common ailments, like diarrhoea and pneumonia, paediatricians from the city will discuss the issue, along with the problem of schoolbags that weigh too much.
Five thousand delegates, including representatives from the Saarc countries, will attend the conference.
According to paediatricians, parents often do not listen to the warnings of the doctors regarding drug resistance. The parents even change doctors overnight or buy drugs over the counter, they said.
Among the symptoms of drug resistance, the most prominent is Fascitis ? a streptococcal bacterial infection that spreads rapidly in the hands and legs.
?This particular strain of bacteria, doctors claim, have already shown signs of drug resistance and its infection among children is a pointer to indiscriminate drug use at a young age,? said Ritabrata Kundu, a senior paediatrician.
Child clinics across the city, including AMRI, Apollo Gleneagles and Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre, have treated cases of Fascitis in children as young as 14 years.
?Children are being forced to take second-generation drugs for diseases that could have been tackled otherwise,? said Sukanta Chatterjee, a senior paediatrician.
