BioVoice News November 2017 Issue 6 Volume 2 | Page 11

I t has been five days since Mehtaab Singh was last administered antibiotics to relieve his from the intense body pain due to a health complication. Yet there are no visible signs that could assure his doctors about any improvement. Staring helplessly are the relatives who are puzzled as to why the medicines are not working since he has no history of any irregular antibiotics consumption. It was soon found out that he has been a ferocious eater of chicken supplied from a Punjab based poultry farm where the antibiotics have been used in abundance. The above example clearly shows that the causes of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are no longer limited to any one medium. Recently a study in Mumbai detected antibiotic resistant bacteria in commonly consumed food items like raw chicken and sprouted beans. Scientists had isolated bacteria resistant to antibiotics from food products available in the market. High levels of resistance to many important antibiotics were found across the board, ranging from 39 percent for ciprofloxacin, which is used to treat respiratory “ Single, isolated interventions have limited impact and coordinated action is required to minimize the emergence and spread” J P Nadda, Union Health Minister www.BioVoiceNews.com 11