Antibiotics unnecessarily used in 80% of Covid treatments: Study 

Unnecessary antibiotic dosages have been used in 80% of the treatment of Covid-19 in Bangladesh according to a research study conducted by Mugda Medical College Hospital. 

The researchers have urged patients and doctors to be more aware of the use of antibiotics to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The results of the study were published Tuesday in a seminar titled "Antibiotic Resistance," arranged by the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research (IEDCR). 

According to the study findings, 70% of the medicines used on Covid patients in hospitals were antibiotics. 

Also, antibiotic drugs were used to treat 80-100% of ICU patients. 

Thirty-three percent of patients used antibiotics without consulting a doctor prior to being admitted to hospitals. 

Mugda Medical College Hospital Medicine Department Professor, Dr Rubina Yasmin, said the use of antibiotics was unnecessary in 80% of cases. 

"This will negatively impact health systems in the future," she added. 

The IEDCR and the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) also jointly conducted another research on antibiotic resistance. 

The data for the joint study was collected from five Covid-dedicated hospitals and five general hospitals from 1 May to 30 July. 

IEDCR Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Zakir Hossain, who served as the lead researcher of the joint study, said, "Not many antibiotics are effective in preventing coronavirus infections. Doctors need to be more careful in choosing antibiotics for Covid patients."

Joining the seminar, Directorate General of Health Services Additional Director General,  Professor Meerjady Sabrina Flora, said the rate at which unnecessary antibiotic drugs have been used will have dire consequences in the days to come. 

"Everyone should be careful about using antibiotics," she added.