‘Mass administration of antibiotics not advisable’

Director of PHFI’s Indian Institute of Public Health, G.V.S. Murthy wants treatment protocols to be widely disseminated since the Omicron variant has shownmonoclonal antibodies are noteffective, and m

Director of PHFI’s Indian Institute of Public Health, G.V.S. Murthy wants treatment protocols to be widely disseminated since the Omicron variant has shownmonoclonal antibodies are noteffective, and mild to moderate cases would not need drugs like Remdesivir. Plenty of fluids, paracetamoltablets and steam inhalation, in case of sore throat and cough, along with Vitamin C is the commonprotocol.

Indiscriminate use of antibiotics like Azithromycin or Doxycycline, especiallythrough mass administration at the population level is "not advisable" given that mostpeople will not take a proper course and this will fuel anti-microbial resistance, which may prove to be abig public health challenge.

Evidence from the United Kingdom and Israel showed that booster shots halt transmission and hospitalisation rates. “We may need more than one preventive dose in the next 12-14 months and vaccines need to be dynamically tweaked for new variants,” adds Dr. Murthy.