Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan on Friday suggested a ban on over-the-counter sales of antibiotics to stop their abuse and increase their effectiveness to fight bacterial infections.

This could be part of a concerted effort to reduce the use of antibiotics to combat the increasing resistance of many strains of bacteria to antibiotics, he told media persons on the sidelines of a lecture at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology here.

“There is a tendency among people to go to a drug store and pick up antibiotics randomly. Also, many do not complete the full course and stop using the drug as soon as they get some relief. This is an alarming trend. It will therefore be a good idea to regulate sale of antibiotics through doctor prescriptions only,” he pointed out.

The growth of multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to treat infections with antibiotics.

“This requires a coordinated effort, which should include rationalised use of the drug, good public health to prevent spread of infection and scientific research to bring out new antibiotics,” he said.

Ramakrishnan, who received the chemistry Nobel in 2009 for his studies on the structure and function of the ribosome, is currently working on how the human ribosome differs from that of bacteria.

amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW