NIID turns blue to battle super-bugs

It was the first to face the pandemic and rise to the occasion.

The pandemic has underscored the importance of infection control, rational use of antibiotics and the dangers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). With World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2021 coming round, all staff of the National Institute for Infectious Diseases (NIID) including the Director put their shoulder to the wheel to ‘Go Blue for the AMR Campaign’.

With bunches of blue balloons festooning the ‘artery’ of the network of corridors and the main areas including the outpatients’ department (OPD) and the medical and dental clinics of the sprawling NIID, this campaign was spearheaded by Consultant Microbiologist Dr. Malika Karunaratne and the Infection Control Team.

Attired in blue, hospital staff sported badges symbolising the campaign to get the attention of patients on the importance of curbing AMR. Awareness programmes through short talks were held for patients.

The take home messages were:

Do not buy antibiotics over-the-counter without a doctor’s prescription.

Do not take antibiotics for fever, cough, sneezing, loose stools etc., without seeking a doctor’s advice.

Do not share prescriptions. Antibiotics should be taken according to a personalized prescription. The full, prescribed course of antibiotics should be completed. There should be no half-doses.

Do not give antibiotics to pets, if they are ill. Always drink boiled cooled water, wash raw salads well before consumption, cook food well and practise good hand hygiene before eating to prevent getting drug-resistant pathogens from animals.

Protect the important residual microbiota (good bacteria) by not self-medicating with antibiotics.

Meanwhile, two lectures on AMR were held for the staff to spotlight the magnitude of the problem, pointing out that by 2050, the ‘main killer’ would be infections brought on by multi- drug resistant organisms, said Dr. Karunaratne.

She said that discussions were held on how to avoid unnecessary OPD antibiotic prescriptions, while NIID data on the alarming prevalence rates of multi-drug resistant bacteria over the last six months were presented to the clinical staff followed by a discussion on preventive measures.

Special emphasis had been on hand hygiene, medical equipment sterilization, cleaning of the environment, hospital linen management, infectious waste management and decolonization of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).