Clinical microbiologists have warned that using antibiotics to treat the common cold, which is caused by viruses, could lead to antimicrobial resistance.

They asserted that antibiotics were not effective for the treatment of viral illnesses, stating that their irrational use, along with antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial drugs, could result in the development of drug resistance, rendering treatments ineffective.

Also read: People with tattoos may end up with blood cancers – Experts

The experts advocated proper diagnosis and stressed that antibiotics should only be used with a doctor’s prescription.

Cleveland Clinic states that antibiotics were medicines used to treat infections caused by bacteria.

It further noted that the common cold is caused by viruses, and antibiotics were ineffective against colds.

An over-the-counter antibiotic, Amoxil is usually taken by Nigerians to treat persistent colds.

Antimicrobial resistance, the World Health Organisation notes is when bacteria viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death.

This is caused by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals, and plants.

The WHO also states that AMR is the top global public health and development threat and is directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths globally in 2019.

Speaking with newsmen, a Consultant Clinical Microbiologist at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Prof Samuel Taiwo, called for the adoption of prescription-based access to antibiotics, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral drugs.

He reiterated that the inappropriate use of the drugs was increasing the ineffectiveness rate of the medicines.

Taiwo asserted, “We are making sure that they are used properly. So the stakeholders that are normally prescribing antimicrobials like the doctors at the tertiary level, secondary level, then the community health workers at the primary level, we are giving them knowledge of how to properly use antimicrobials and then also be able to talk to patients when you don’t need antimicrobial, don’t take it.

“For example, if you have a common cold, which is caused by viruses, you don’t take antimicrobials. Antibiotics don’t treat viruses. So viruses will come and then they will go. You only need to give your immune system good food and rest and they will go. You don’t need antibiotics for most of these things but 80 per cent of antimicrobials in Nigeria are prescribed at the community level and that’s an area that we have neglected.”

The don called for antimicrobial stewardship to ensure that healthcare professionals follow evidence-based guidelines for prescribing and administering antibiotics.

“The government must also regulate the antimicrobial source. In developed countries, you can’t get antimicrobials without a medical prescription. If you go to South Africa you have to get a medical prescription. But here, you can walk to any chemist and get the highest-selling antibiotics, which is what you call the reserved antibiotics or the antibiotic of last resort. You can get it in any pharmacy without any prescription. We need to look at this area very critically,” he said.

A professor of Clinical Microbiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Comfort Akujobi, stated that inappropriate use of antibiotics fuelled the emergence of resistance to antimicrobials.

She warned against the use of antibiotics such as Augmentin to cure the common cold, stating that a procedure called steam inhalation could make the symptoms go away.

Also, a professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Food Safety in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Olufemi Ojo said, proper diagnosis was important before antibiotics should be taken.

“For instance, viral diseases, you don’t need to use antibiotics for viral diseases. But when a viral disease presents clinical manifestation that is similar to bacterial disease, without you conducting a proper laboratory investigation to ascertain the cause, whether it’s viral or bacterial, you will just go ahead and give antibiotics. So, that is a misdiagnosis. So, if we have good facilities for disease diagnosis, then we will not need so many antibiotics as we have,” he said.