ETV Bharat / healthPhysicians Explain Why Antibiotics Aren’t the Answer To Every Monsoon FeverThe rainy season has a familiar medical routine: someone develops a fever, someone else recommends an antibiotic, and within hours a strip of tablets appears on the kitchen counter.
Monsoon fevers can be caused by several different infections, including dengue, chikungunya, malaria, typhoid, influenza and leptospirosis.
In fact, taking antibiotics when they are not needed can create another health problem: antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Patients sometimes arrive after taking antibiotics on their own for a week.
An antibiotic does not help when a fever is caused by a virus (Getty Images)Even Bacterial Infections Need the Right Antibiotic
ETV Bharat / health
Physicians Explain Why Antibiotics Aren’t the Answer To Every Monsoon Fever
The rainy season has a familiar medical routine: someone develops a fever, someone else recommends an antibiotic, and within hours a strip of tablets appears on the kitchen counter. But doctors say this seemingly harmless habit can backfire. Monsoon fevers can be caused by several different infections, including dengue, chikungunya, malaria, typhoid, influenza and leptospirosis. The problem is that antibiotics do not work against every one of them. In fact, taking antibiotics when they are not needed can create another health problem: antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Fever Does Not Automatically Mean You Need An Antibiotic
Dr Prerna Goyal, Sr Consultant - Physician, RG Hospitals in Ludhiana, says, “Monsoon brings a predictable rise in several types of fever. Yet many people automatically reach for antibiotics. The problem is that most monsoon fevers are viral. Dengue and chikungunya, for example, are mosquito-borne viral infections. Antibiotics act against bacteria, not viruses. So taking an antibiotic for dengue or chikungunya does nothing to treat the virus causing the illness.”
It is like trying to fix a Wi-Fi problem by changing the car's engine oil. The medicine may be real, but it is solving an entirely different problem. Dr Goyal says this habit of self-medicating is common during the monsoon. Patients sometimes arrive after taking antibiotics on their own for a week. By then, the doctor isn't simply treating the original illness. They also have to work around the effects of medication that may never have been necessary in the first place.
Dengue and chikungunya are transmitted by mosquitoes and have no bacterial component that antibiotics can target. So if someone develops fever along with symptoms such as a rash or joint pain, the answer should not automatically be an antibiotic. Dr Goyal says such symptoms should prompt appropriate testing for conditions such as dengue or chikungunya. The first job is to find out what is causing the fever. Only then can the right treatment begin.
An antibiotic does not help when a fever is caused by a virus (Getty Images)
Even Bacterial Infections Need the Right Antibiotic
