New Delhi, Aug 23: Amid a rise in monsoon-related illnesses, doctors have urged people to avoid self-medication with antibiotics, stressing that fever does not necessarily indicate a bacterial infection.
Medical experts said fever can result from several conditions, including viral infections, dengue, malaria and typhoid, and treatment should be based on clinical assessment, symptoms and appropriate diagnostic tests.
"Fever by itself is not an indication for an antibiotic. The first step is to determine what is causing the fever," said Dr Sujeet K Choudhary, Chief Medical Officer, Internal Medicine, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research.
Doctors pointed out that antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections but do not work against viral illnesses. Unnecessary use can cause side effects and contribute to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), making infections more difficult to treat in the future.
Dr Neeraj Nischal, Professor of Medicine at AIIMS, Delhi, said symptoms such as fever, body ache, headache, weakness and gastrointestinal problems can occur in several monsoon-related infections.
He advised people against using leftover antibiotics or medicines prescribed to others and stressed that antibiotics should not be started, stopped or altered without medical advice.
Dr Mayank Uppal, senior consultant in Internal Medicine at Sitaram Bhartia Institute, said antimicrobial resistance was already making infection treatment more challenging.
He stressed that antibiotics remain lifesaving medicines when genuinely required, but their use should be limited to patients who need them and should involve the appropriate drug, dose and duration.
Doctors also referred to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines, which emphasise rational antibiotic selection and caution against indiscriminate empirical treatment when a bacterial infection has not been established.
Medical experts advised people with persistent or worsening fever, breathing difficulty, severe dehydration, persistent vomiting, bleeding, altered consciousness or extreme weakness to seek prompt medical attention.
Older adults, young children, people with underlying illnesses and those with weakened immunity may require earlier evaluation, doctors said.
They also cautioned against judging the severity of an illness solely by the intensity or duration of fever and urged patients to seek reassessment rather than automatically switching to stronger antibiotics.
Doctors emphasised that preventing antimicrobial resistance requires responsible prescribing as well as greater public awareness, adding that in many viral illnesses, adequate hydration, supportive care and careful monitoring may be sufficient.
