Fever, runny nose, headaches, aches, coughs… for several weeks now, some people in Réunion have been suffering from one small virus and bacteria after another. The figures speak for themselves. According to the latest update from Public Health France, cases of acute gastroenteritis and acute respiratory infections are increasing. The fault lies with the weather, of course, with cold, heat, wind, and perhaps also with antibiotics – overprescribed or taken as self-medication – which makes viruses and bacteria much more resistant (Photo www.imazpress.com)
Carole has been dragging her cough around for several weeks. Although she felt like she was feeling better, two weeks later, the cough is back with a vengeance. The mother feels exhausted. Between fatigue and taking medication to feel better, she feels like she is perpetually sick.
Indeed, during this period of southern winter in Reunion, there is a strong circulation of contagious viral and bacterial strains.
“Although they are more contagious, they are less severe except for people who are fragile and/or suffering from comorbidities,” underlines Professor Xavier Deparis, director of monitoring and health security at the ARS.
According to the latest figures from Public Health France, from September 9 to 15, 2024, “in community medicine, the share of activity of acute respiratory infections (ARI) continues to increase with 5.9% of total activity”. An activity which is above the level of the 2013-2023 average.
Likewise, visits to emergency rooms for all ages for gastroenteritis were increasing (+29%).
– Stop overprescribing or self-medication –
Her medicine cabinet already full of medications and sometimes antibiotics prescribed during a previous consultation for the same symptoms, Carole chose not to consult and to treat herself.
This was certainly his mistake.
“Overprescribing, overusing antibiotics and self-medication is not good,” says the director of health monitoring at the ARS. “This allows bacteria that have the ability to adapt to drugs to become resistant to these antibiotics.”
“To avoid this, we must be very vigilant about the use of antibiotics,” he warns.
“The people of Réunion are used to being prescribed antibiotics at the slightest fever. This must stop for everyone’s health.”
In Réunion, there is also a regional antibiotic therapy center whose mission is to inform health professionals. “We need to give them good practices because when you go to see a doctor for a cold or flu syndrome and come out without antibiotics, that’s good,” adds Xavier Deparis.
– Antibiotic resistance, a very real problem in Reunion –
If there is no “notion of more virulent viruses, bacteria are more so,” says Professor Xavier Deparis. To understand, when we catch the flu virus, the cold or other, the virus infects us and makes us sick. This is where the bacteria comes to superinfect.
“Reunion Island does indeed have more and more resistant bacteria,” confirms Doctor Rodolphe Manaquin, infectious disease specialist at the University Hospital. While “they are not necessarily more virulent, they are more difficult to treat.”
And for good reason, generally when we are sick we take or are prescribed antibiotics. Antibiotics which, when faced with these bacteria, are no longer so effective, hence the feeling of not being cured.
“Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant, linked to the use of anti-infectives in human, animal and environmental health,” adds theinfectiologue.
It is important to know that antibiotics are prescribed to treat infections of bacterial origin. While they are generally effective, a study published in The Lancet shows that by 2050, resistance to these drugs could cause the death of 39 million people.
This antibiotic resistance can become a real threat to modern medicine and a real public health issue.
“This is a major risk for the years to come. This is why it is a WHO health priority,” warns Rodolphe Manaquin.
It is worth remembering that the vast majority of winter infections and illnesses are viral and not bacterial, which means that antibiotics are not necessary to treat them.
Even if the symptoms or pain caused by an illness have disappeared after three days, if the prescription is for six days, it is imperative to complete the treatment.
Furthermore, it is important not to play the apprentice doctor and take an antibiotic that was not prescribed to treat an infection because it is possible to make a wrong diagnosis. We therefore avoid self-medication.
Hence the importance of following the very famous expression, “antibiotics are not automatic”.
ma.m/www.imazpress.com/redac@ipreunion.com
