Ahmedabad: Despite the wide use and abuse of antibiotics during the COVID years, their sales have only continued to rise year after year. What is a more worrying trend for both pharmacists and doctors is that three of the five highest-selling antibiotics are those used to treat severe infections. The top five most sold antibiotic molecules include antibacterials namely Amoxicillin-Clavulanic Acid, Meropenem, Cefoperazone-Sulbactam, Azithromycin, Cefixime, and Linezolid, according to data compiled by Pharmarack.
Sales have increased substantially over a five-year period for molecules such as Amoxicillin + Clavulanic Acid (48 per cent), Meropenem (63 per cent), Cefoperazone-Sulbactam combination (23 per cent) and Linezolid (69 per cent), states Pharmarack data.
Three of these five antibiotics are of a higher grade, which means they are used to treat patients with severe forms of infection and even those with mild infections who do not respond to the conventional broad-spectrum antibiotics. The use of these antibiotics is carefully considered to minimize the development of antimicrobial resistance and to ensure their effectiveness in critical cases. However, the increase in their sales suggests that they are likely being overused and misused, potentially contributing to the growing global health threat of antibiotic resistance. Dr Nirav Visavadia, a critical care physician with Sterling Hospital, said that some of the antibiotics on the list are abused by those who buy them over the counter without a prescription to treat flu-like symptoms. “Unless the physician advises, one must not take antibiotics for bacterial infection,” he said.
Despite its wide use and abuse during the COVID years, the sale of azithromycin in the state has continued to rise even as the ramifications of the COVID pandemic have subsided. Azithromycin, used to treat several bacterial infections, is the fourth highest-selling antibiotic in the state. These include middle ear infections, strep throat, pneumonia, traveller’s diarrhoea and certain other intestinal infections.
The sale of the drug has gone up from Rs 28 crore in MAT July 2020 to Rs 30 crore in MAT July 2024, over a five-year period in the state. The persistence in its high sales figures suggests a continued reliance on the drug in the medical community, despite concerns over its overuse during the pandemic.
“People increasingly self-medicate, and the trend is equally widespread in urban and rural Gujarat. Moreover, the awareness about upper respiratory infections has increased since the pandemic, which also resulted in increased sales of the drug,” explained Alpesh Patel, chairperson, Federation of Gujarat State Chemists and Druggists’ Association (FGSCDA).
“Misuse of antibiotics results in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and thus, they become less effective over time. It is a misconception that the use of antibiotics helps cure the disease faster. In most viral infection cases, symptomatic treatment works in three to four days without the use of antibiotics,” he further added.
