The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has termed the recent findings of antibiotics residue in chicken as a wake-up call in India and warned that the consumption of antibiotic-laced meat would lead the population to the pre-penicillin era. IMA Secretary General Dr Narendra Saini on Thursday voiced his concerns regarding the increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics saying if this isn’t curbed right away it could lead the country into the pre-penicillin era as there will be no effective antibiotic left any more.
According to Saini, it has been 15 years since a new antibiotic molecule has been made in India or abroad. “Most of the research happens in the US and UK for antibiotics. We followed their research and prepared antibiotics. However, they stopped researching because these infectious diseases are not common there. India hasn’t ever done research on these subjects even though 60 per cent-70 per cent infections mature in our country. This, since 15 years no new antibiotic molecule has been formed and we are still dependant on these old ones,” said Saini.
The study done by the CSE revealed that antibiotics are being used in chickens in Delhi-NCR at a large scale, honing a form of antibiotic resistance system in the human body. It said that 70 chicken samples from Delhi and NCR were tested for six commonly used antibiotics during a recent study of which 40 per cent tested positive and 17 per cent had residues of more than one antibiotic.
Doctors feel that the poultry farmers use these antibiotics to help the chickens grow and stay immune to diseases. However, they eventually end up making their systems resistant to bacteria like Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacter spp. and Enterococcus spp. which are responsible for large number of infections in humans.
“Based on the analysis of the data from various hospitals in India, it is evident that a very high level of resistance is present against the antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and doxycyclin. This is because of the transfer of bacteria from the chickens,” said Saini.
There are three ways that the bacteria can transfer from the chicken to the human body. First of all, the farmers who take care of the chicken are likely to get the multi-drug resistant bacteria and infection because of their close dealing with poultry. Second, the antibiotics spread through the waste product of the animal which is excreta or urine. This mixes in the soil and water and eventually reaches humans. Third, after the chicken dies, the bacterium stays in the chicken in spite of cooking at high temperatures. This bacterium gets into the human body.
IMA feels that unless laws are made to curb this antibiotic feeding to poultry, it is difficult to curb the infection. Even dieticians feel that there is no way a person can know which chickens carry the infection. “We usually buy chicken from our local vendor who cuts the chicken in front of us. There is no clinical testing done on the chicken. This makes us vulnerable to the bacteria which kills our immunity as no antibiotic affects it,” said Ritika Samaddar, dietician at Max Hospital.
Thus, IMA demands that there is a ban put on the use of antibiotics for growth promotion and mass disease prevention. “We also want that antibiotics are not allowed in feed and feed supplement. The government should set standards for animal feed, regulate the business of antibiotics that are critical for human should not be allowed for use in animal,” officials said.