Antibiotics Misuse In Conjunctivitis, A Step Towards The Post-Antibiotic Era!

Conjunctivitis (inflammation of the conjunctiva) is the most frequent ocular disease worldwide. Acute infective conjunctivitis is a very common disease in primary healthcare. It is usually a mild condition and serious complications are uncommon. Topical antibiotics do not prevent repeated attacks, and their use may confuse healthcare providers. 

Meta-analyses of many studies on clinical and microbiological findings revealed that topical antibiotics were only an advantage in the early improvement for acute bacterial conjunctivitis from day 2 to day 5 and microbiological remission phases. From days 6-10 they noticed that those early improvements in medical and microbiological remissions phases were decreased but persisted. 

Antibiotics versus placebo for acute bacterial conjunctivitis; most cases resolved spontaneously with clinical remission accomplished in 65% from day 2 to day 5 for the patients who tried placebo. No serious side effects have been stated in both the active or placebo trials, indicating that critical sight-threatening complications are infrequent.

Acute bacterial conjunctivitis is a self-limiting disease, but the use of antibiotics is associated with substantially improved rates of medical and microbiological remission.

Unnecessary usage of antibiotics increases dramatically antibiotic-resistance.Antibiotic resistance among ocular organisms could be a challenge to the ophthalmologists. Antibiotic-resistant infections are a significant socioeconomic burden to the health care system.

The problem is Global, reflecting the overuse of these drugs worldwide and the failure of the development of new antibiotic agents to resolve the threat. Coordinated efforts are essential in implementing new strategies, establishing research efforts and taking steps to resolve the crisis. New medications alone will not be adequate to overcome the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Thus, WHO works with a lot of Nations to organize Infection control management plans.