Objectives Data from point prevalence surveys (PPSs) in India are scarce. Conducting PPSs is especially challenging in the absence of electronic medical records, a lack of dedicated resources and a high patient load in resource-poor settings. This multicentre survey was conducted to provide background data for planning and strengthening antimicrobial stewardship programmes across the country. Methods This inpatient PPS was conducted over 2 weeks in May 2019 simultaneously across five study centres in India. Data about patient characteristics, indications for antimicrobials use and details of each antimicrobial prescribed including supportive investigation reports were collected in predesigned forms. Results A total of 3473 admitted patients in wards and ICUs were covered across five study centres. Of these, 1747 (50.3%) patients were on antimicrobials, with 46.9% patients being on two or more antimicrobials. Out of the total antimicrobials prescribed, 40.2% of the antimicrobials were prescribed for community-acquired infection requiring hospitalization followed by surgical prophylaxis (32.6%). Third-generation cephalosporins and drugs from the ‘Watch’ category were prescribed most commonly. Only 22.8% of the antimicrobials were based on microbiology reports. Conclusions The survey demonstrated a high use of antimicrobials in admitted patients with a considerable proportion of drugs from the ‘Watch’ category. The targets for interventions that emerged from the survey were: improving surgical prophylaxis, decreasing double anaerobic cover, initiating culture of sending cultures and de-escalation with targeted therapy.

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Background: Overuse of antibiotics among the patients with upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is a worldwide problem, leading to antimicrobial resistance. This study is aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of the antimicrobial prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational study. Data was collected from outdoor adult patients who were clinically diagnosed to have URTIs from General Medicine and Otorhinolaryngology Department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. The appropriateness of antibiotics used in URTI was assessed. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Total 100 cases, clinically diagnosed to have URTI were included in the study. Among these, common cold (46%) and acute otitis media (23%) were the most frequent encounters. 75% of the prescriptions contained at least one antibiotic. In fact, antibiotics were the most commonly prescribed agents (21.2%) followed by antihistaminic (19.8%) and NSAIDs. 57% of the antibiotics were prescribed inappropriately, either in terms of inappropriate choice (37%) or over use (20%) of antibiotic. Conclusions: Inappropriate prescription of antibiotics for otherwise self-limiting URTI cases is a common practice even in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Implementation of multifaceted approach is needed to curtail the same.