Doctors flag alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant UTI cases | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Cases of highly antibiotic-resistant urinary tract infections (UTIs) are on the rise in Hyderabad, with doctors in govt and private hospitals now seeing around three to four such cases a week. Earlier, doctors would see about one such case in a month.In many cases, patients continue to test positive for the same resistant bacteria even after several rounds of treatment.In one such case, a 40-year-old woman with uncontrolled diabetes developed a severe kidney infection that did not improve despite treatment. “The infection continued to damage her kidney and became life-threatening. We had to remove the infected kidney to save her life,” Dr Mohd Taif, senior urologist, AINU, Banjara Hills, said.Doctors highlighted that the rise is mainly linked to the wrong use of antibiotics, self-medication, over-the-counter (OTC) purchase without a prescription and stopping medicines before completing the prescribed course. They warned that repeated use of antibiotics can make bacteria stronger and leave doctors with very few drugs to treat the infection.Dr Mohammad Jahangir, assistant professor of urology, Osmania Medical College, said not every case of burning urination or frequent urination is due to a bacterial infection.“Urine tests and culture can help confirm whether there is an infection and identify the bacteria and the antibiotics that can work against it. But some patients take strong antibiotics without proper medical advice or change antibiotics without checking their culture reports,” he added.Experts suggested that the solution to recurrent UTI is not always another antibiotic. “The underlying cause must be identified. Urinary stones, blockage, prostate problems, incomplete emptying of the bladder and catheter use can all cause repeated infections,” Jahangir said.In another case, a 32-year-old man’s urine culture report showed how serious the problem has become. The test found E coli (a type of bacteria commonly found in the gut) that was resistant to a large number of antibiotics, including commonly used drugs as well as several reserve antibiotics. The report showed resistance to drugs such as ceftriaxone, cefepime, ertapenem, meropenem, ciprofloxacin, fosfomycin, nitrofurantoin and even colistin.Dr Taif said drug resistance was now being seen even in routine UTI cases. “Regular UTI cases themselves often show drug resistance to most of the usual antibiotics in at least 30-40% of patients coming to us. About 10% of patients are extremely drug resistant and respond only to the highest of the reserved antibiotics,” he added.Dr Bhanu Prasad, consultant urologist, Apollo Hospitals, said that such resistant UTI cases are very often seen in OPDs these days. “Multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria E. coli and klebsiella are being seen repeatedly, which are very serious and life-threatening infections. Even after repeated tests, we get the same report. We have already reached a point where no other antibiotic is available to treat some such patients.”Experts pointed out that easy access to antibiotics without prescriptions and their use by unqualified persons were adding to the problem. They also warned that a serious infection can damage the kidney and spread to the blood, causing sepsis.“Patients should not take antibiotics on their own or demand a stronger antibiotic when symptoms do not improve. Patients should consult a qualified doctor, get a urine culture when needed and take antibiotics exactly as prescribed,” said Dr Prasad.