Shigellosis cases open up a new AMR challenge in Keralam
Health experts in Kerala are raising alarms over the rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Shigellosis, a common diarrhoeal disease. Data shows that primary antibiotics like Ciprofloxacin are becoming ineffective, necessitating a shift in treatment protocols.
Why it matters
The rise of community-acquired AMR poses a significant public health threat, potentially rendering common infections difficult to treat.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is no longer just a problem of hospital-acquired or health care-associated infections. Clinicians in Keralam are worried that the resistance profile of primary antibiotics used to treat even acute diarrhoeal diseases like Shigellosis is going up, which has important implications for antibiotic use in the State.
Data from Keralam’s KARS-NET (Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network), one of the strongest AMR surveillance systems in the country and which has been tracking the AMR profile of Shigellosis since 2023, says that the resistance profile of primary antibiotics used to treat the infection is growing.
Ciprofloxacin, which continues to be included in national guidelines for treatment of Shigella dysentery and which used to be an important treatment option for bacterial dysentery, has a resistance profile of 96% and can no longer be relied upon for empirical treatment of Shigellosis.
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