1 / 9Several parts of India have been reporting a high number of influenza cases in the last two months with prolonged illness, lingering cough. After battling 2 years of Covid pandemic, the rise in flu cases has created a scare among the general public.2 / 9However, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommended people or patients suffering from painful coughs to not risk their lives by taking pills without proper medical consultations.3 / 9Doctors advise people to avoid taking antibiotics, which are frequently ineffective. The World Health Organization reports that between September and January, the West experienced influenza A (H1N1) pdm09, A (H3N2), and B viruses circulating in several countries.4 / 9Influenza is caused by flu viruses A, B, and C. The influenza B virus is highly contagious, causing seasonal outbreaks every year. It is not as severe as the influenza A virus, but symptoms include fever, chills, sore throat, coughing, runny nose, and sneezing, fatigue, and body aches.5 / 9People have been suffering from fever, cough, loss of voice, and shortness of breath. The most common symptom is an uncontrollable cough, with or without wheezing. Prolonged coughing may be caused by air pollution that impairs respiratory immunity, new mutant pathogens that require research, post-nasal drip, allergic airway, reflux diseases, and irrational antibiotic use.6 / 9To avoid getting the flu, avoid crowded places, practice good hand and respiratory hygiene, getting annual flu shots, controlling indoor air quality, wearing a pollution mask when outdoors, and avoiding home remedies without consulting a doctor.7 / 9People need to stop taking the antibiotics once they feel better as it leads to resistance.8 / 9Several other antibiotics are being misused for certain conditions and are developing resistance among patients. For instance, 70% of diarrhoea cases are viral diagnoses, for which antibiotics are not needed but are being prescribed by doctors, according to the notice. 9 / 9'Right now, people start taking antibiotics like Azithromycin and Amoxiclav etc, that too without caring for done and frequency and stop it once start feeling better. This needs to be stopped as it leads to antibiotic resistance. Whenever there will be a real use of antibiotics, they will not work due to the resistance,' the IMA said in a statement.