INTRODUCTIONAntibiotics are an important category of drugs in which indiscriminate use can affect the susceptibility patterns among infectious organisms, resulting in antibiotic resistance.

METHODSData on antibiotic usage and susceptibility patterns were collected from public and private health centres in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India, through the use of questionnaires. The data collected were then coded, tabulated, computed and evaluated using statistical analysis.

RESULTSThe consumption profile of the different categories of drugs used in public and private hospitals was as follows: nutrition and metabolism products 19.0%; gastrointestinal disorder-related drugs 18.5%; antibiotics 16.8%; anti-pyretics and anti-analgesics 20.6%. These drugs were found to be in high demand. Among the antibiotics, aminoglycosides (amikacin), quinolones (ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin), tetracyclines (doxycycline), penicillin (ampicillin) and sulphonamides (co-trimoxazole) were the most commonly prescribed drugs for antibiotic therapy. 46% of the culture laboratory reports were positive with the following organism profile: Escherichia coli (36%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (16%), Staphylococcus aureus (29%), Enterococcus faecalis (9%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10%). In terms of the sensitivity profile of antibacterials, amikacin (66.9%) was the only antibiotic showing sensitivity patterns, while the majority of antibiotics, such as cotrimoxazole, nalidixic acid, amoxicillin, gentamycin and norfloxacin, had acquired a resistance rate of 55.1%-80.6%.

CONCLUSIONThe results of this study suggest that indiscriminate prescription and consumption of new broad-spectrum antibiotics against sensitive organisms results in the development of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, there is an urgent need to curb the excessive use of antibiotics in local hospitals in order to control the trend of increasing antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics.