Ciprofloxacin, a common antibiotics, becomes ineffective in majority of cases, finds SMS Hosp study

Bacteria learned to survive by developing their own defence mechanism against antibiotic use, finds a 2025 study report by Sawai Man Singh hospital. The study done on 9,776 patients found high antibiotic resistance across multiple bacterial infections, including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter and Enterococcus.Ciprofloxacin, one of the most used antibiotics, was found resistant in 79% of 2,590 cases of Klebsiella bacteria species infection. It was found ineffective in 54% of 1,661 cases of Pseudomonas bacterial infection and 74% of 326 cases of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria; infection. It was resistant in 77% of 1,766 cases of Acinetobacter bacteria species. Besides, it was ineffective in 84% of 4,013 cases of Escherichia coli infection. In 2,000 cases of Enterococcus bacteria species infection, 87% of cases were found resistant to ciprofloxacin antibiotics, which is used in infections of urinary tract, tonsils, sinus, nose, throat, female genital organ, skin and soft tissues and lungs (pneumonia).
Pathogenic Escherichia coli (E.Coli) often causes diarrhoea, sepsis and other clinical symptoms, and remained one of the main intestinal pathogens affecting human health, the study report said. It said ampicillin antibiotics was widely used to treat E coli infection, but its resistance is now a major concern. The SMS hospital study report showed that in 93% of 4,013 cases of E.Coli bacterial infection, ampicillin antibiotics was found resistant and in just 7% of cases, it proved beneficial. Meropenem, also among the most used drugs provided by doctors in hospitals to patients for infection, witnessed high resistance to bacteria. In 55% of Acinetobacter bacterial infection, and 57% in Klebsiella bacteria cases, it was found resistant. Doxycycline antibiotic drug which gained popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic for its irrational use and also used widely used for treatment of scrub typhus, now showed resistance against certain bacteria. The SMS study found that it was resistant in 36% of Enterococcus bacteria species, 44% resistant in Escherichia coli cases and 34% in Klebsiella bacterial infection cases. In view of the increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among patients and to curb the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, a state-level committee of the State IMA is being constituted. "This committee formed in Dec 2025 will coordinate with all the branches of all the zones across the state to establish AMR containment committees at the district and branch level. They will also organise workshops to educate all doctors and other relevant staff on this subject. The committee will send its progress report to the state office every month and review the activities conducted by the branches under its jurisdiction," Dr Lokendra Sharma, chairman of the committee, told TOI. Besides, amoxicillin-clavulanate antibiotic resistance is a growing concern, driven by extensive antibiotic use. This resistance affects common pathogens, especially E.Coli and Klebsiella, making empirical treatment harder, particularly for urinary tract infections and invasive infections, with prior antibiotic exposure being a key risk factor.