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    Your habit of throwing medicines is breeding superbugs that are hard to cure

    Synopsis

    "Superbugs" are strains of bacteria that are resistant to the majority of antibiotics commonly used today to treat infections.

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    A study has found that tonnes of medicines are flowing into river that is giving rise to superbugs, which most antibiotics cannot kill.
    Your reckless habit of throwing antibiotics, painkillers and other medicines in garbage is giving rise to infections and superbugs in India that are hard to cure. A study conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) scientists has found that tonnes of medicines are flowing into river, giving rise to superbugs that most antibiotics cannot kill.

    "Superbugs" are strains of bacteria that are resistant to the majority of antibiotics commonly used today to treat infections. According to some studies, Superbugs kill nearly 60,000 newborns every year in India.

    According to a ToI report, AIIMS scientists have conducted a study on pharmaceutical contamination in the Yamuna river in Delhi, in which it has been found that a large quantity of medicines are flowing into the river that is giving rise to the emergence of superbugs.

    The drugs are coming back into the food system through milk, vegetables and other agricultural produce. People throw away expired medicines thinking they are useless but they are still harmful. As per the study, unused drugs, expired or not, are thrown into dustbins, that end up at the dumping sites, and from there they percolate into local drains and finally flows into Yamuna.

    The study revealed that concentrations of common medicines like fluconazole, ofloxacin, diclofenac and ibuprofen are alarmingly high in Yamuna river.

    The study has been published in the latest edition of the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research.


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