Overuse of antibiotics hampers healthy growth of children:Daily Sun

  A section of physicians of the country are frequently prescribing antibiotics to children as a symptomatic treatment without making proper diagnosis of diseases, which hampers the healthy growth of children, experts said. Physicians often prescribe their patients antibiotics without prior diagnosis, which makes the human body resistant to such medicines, they said, adding that the immune system
of the children cannot prevent diseases in future for this reason, they said. Experienced paediatricians of the country have expressed their concern regarding the use of antibiotics on children as such antibiotics destroy the useful bacteria in the body for which children feel sick frequently. Dr ABM Faruk, a renowned pharmacologist of the country, said prescribing antibiotics is very common in Bangladesh and many physicians are found prescribing children various types of antibiotics to get recovery from their ailments at initial stage. Frequent intake of antibiotics is hazardous to health and may prove fatal and these specialised drugs should be restricted as the formula often leads to breaking out of new diseases, he added. “Antibiotics save human lives but irrational use of such specialised drugs kills all useful bacteria in the body of children for which their [children] entire immune system weakens. They become physically weak and get infected with other diseases frequently,” Dr Faruk pointed out. Dr Faruk said many doctors treat children with antibiotics for recovery from their cough and fever which is commonly known as viral infection and it is clinically proved that there is no use of antibiotic on viral infection. It recovers within 5 to 7 days. A paediatrician of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University said that doctors often prescribe children antibiotics without prior diagnosis, which makes the human body resistant to such medicine. When such children will grow up, then different types of antibiotics will be needed to recover from their normal ailments which lead them to different health complications, he added. If antibiotics are not prescribed rationally by the physicians, then the control of infectious diseases will be hampered and the germs of these diseases will break the food chain in human body, creating new side effects, he observed. He urged physicians across the country to prescribe antibiotics rationally for children for their healthy physical growth.