Picture this. You wake up with a sore throat before a presentation or an exam. You head to the nearest pharmacy, tell the pharmacist you need something strong, and walk out with antibiotics without even realising. No prescription. No questions. Just a quick fix.

For a lot of young Indians, this is normal. Almost routine. But these habits we think of as harmless shortcuts are quietly feeding a much bigger problem. The problem of Antimicrobial Resistance or AMR, a public health crisis that already causes more than 1.25 million deaths each year worldwide and nearly 300,000 in India.

You might be thinking, great, one more health problem to worry about. Isn’t life complicated enough already? But AMR isn’t some new scary disease waiting to jump out at us. It didn’t start because one person took the wrong medicine last week. It actually begins as a natural process. For millions of years, bacteria have been adapting and evolving. That’s how they survive. That’s how most living organisms survive. When something threatens them, they learn how to resist it and evolve into more resilient versions (nature’s way of saying “new update available”).

But here’s where things speed up and get worrying. Our everyday habits give bacteria and other disease-causing germs more chances to practise and adapt. Taking antibiotics without need, stopping a course halfway, using leftover medicines, or getting antibiotics from a pharmacy without a prescription all push this natural process into fast-forward. The same thing happens when antibiotics are overused in farming and livestock. All of this creates an environment where bacteria learn faster than we can keep up, and the medicines meant to treat the infections caused by them slowly lose their power.

And this raises a simple but important question. If AMR is growing partly because of everyday choices, how are young Indians actually making those choices? After all, AMR doesn’t just shape their present – it defines the future they’re stepping into.

To understand how young Indians think about sickness, antibiotics, and infection prevention, Youth Ki Awaaz ran a WhatsApp-based public poll in collaboration with Superheroes Against Superbugs. And the responses show a mix of good instincts, familiar shortcuts, and some worrying gaps in understanding of antibiotics and infections.

Who took the poll
A total of 717 people from across 35 Indian states and UTs responded to the poll and answered the question about how they treat colds and sore throats, and 638 responded to the question about how they prevent infections.

Around 41% of the respondents were between 18 and 23, and another 21% were in their early career years (27-35). About 56% identified as male, 40% as female, and 1% as non-binary.

Understanding our respondents matters because the results reflect not just general habits but the realities of young adults navigating classes, jobs, hostel life, long commutes, and limited access to reliable healthcare.

How young people handle colds and sore throats
The poll’s first question focused on something simple. What do you do when you get a cold or a sore throat? They were given the following options: A. Wait it out with rest and fluids; B. Ask a doctor for antibiotics, C. Take leftover medicines at home or D. Google symptoms and decide myself.

Nearly half of the respondents, about 47%, said they wait it out with rest and fluids which is a healthy instinct. Most colds and sore throats are viral and clear up on their own with rest, which is why antibiotics don’t make a difference in these cases.

About 26% said their go-to response is asking a doctor for antibiotics. For young people who can’t afford to miss college or work, antibiotics feel like the fastest way out. It turns into a pattern where people expect antibiotics for anything that feels uncomfortable, and doctors often prescribe them to avoid pushback.

Then there’s the worrying group of self-medicators. Around 21% said they take leftover medicines lying around at home. Among the youngest respondents, those between 18 and 20, this number jumps to 25%. As people grow older, this drops to 15% among those above 40.

Younger respondents are the most likely to experiment on their own, often because it’s convenient. It’s likely that hostel rooms, PG accommodations, and shared flats are full of half-finished strips of tablets passed around like general-use supplies; given how easy it is to buy antibiotics in India.

Some respondents also turn to the internet before they turn to a doctor. While only 9% of the total respondents do this, young men rely on online searches far more than women. It might seem harmless to look things up, but it becomes risky when people mix online advice with leftover antibiotics.

What young people believe actually prevents infections
The second question explored prevention. What do people think keeps infections away? They had the following options to choose from: A. Washing hands regularly; B. Taking antibiotics early; C. Eating healthy; D. Wearing masks in public.

Only 32% picked handwashing, even though it’s one of the simplest and most proven ways to avoid falling sick. Eating healthy and wearing masks got attention too, but the most worrying belief came from the 13% who think taking antibiotics early helps prevent infections.

This isn’t just a random misunderstanding but reflects how antibiotics have been presented in many Indian households. For years, people stored them like safety nets in their medicine boxes, given for any cold or cough as soon as it would start. The poll shows that this belief is especially strong among older respondents, but younger people are not entirely free from it either.

Looking closer at age and gender patterns
Since the goal of the poll was to understand young people better, the age breakdown is revealing. The youngest group, 18 to 20, are the most likely to self-medicate. It’s likely a mix of accessibility and habit. They often feel they don’t have the time or money for a doctor’s visit, so they rely on what’s already around. In India, most pharmacies also sell antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription, so that makes this all the easier.

At the same time, older adults in the poll were the most likely to demand antibiotics from doctors and the most likely to believe antibiotics prevent infections. That’s a fundamental misunderstanding as antibiotics treat bacterial infections only after they happen. Taking them as a precautionary measure can actually backfire and disturb the healthy bacteria in your gut, making you more vulnerable instead of protected.

Gender adds its own layer. Women are more likely to wait out their symptoms, with about 52% preferring to rest and take fluids, while only 43% of men do the same. But women in our poll showed a higher likelihood of taking leftover medicines. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to seek antibiotics from doctors or rely on internet searches.

Different pressures, different instincts, but both feed into the same cycle of antibiotic misuse and AMR.

Why this matters for young Indians now
Young people today are the most connected generation India has ever seen, but they also live in a time where health information is chaotic and often unreliable. Pharmacies hand out antibiotics easily (and illegally). Doctors are overloaded. Family medicine boxes contain random leftover strips. And online advice, now with an added layer of Generative AI, often mixes facts with confident but incorrect opinions.

AMR becomes dangerous because it grows quietly in the background. It doesn’t cause obvious public panic like COVID did; it doesn’t show up as a sudden outbreak. But it slowly erodes our ability to treat infections that were once routine. If things continue the way they are, simple illnesses will take longer to recover from. Hospital procedures will become riskier and life-threatening. Stronger medicines with harsher side effects will become the new normal.

And young people will face the consequences longest because they’re at the start of their adult lives.

What needs to change
While slowing down AMR requires the right actions on many levels, by many people, but it all starts with everyday decisions. It is clear from this dipstick poll data that young people need clearer information about when antibiotics actually help and when they don’t and better support at home, colleges and workplaces, to be able to take better care of their health.

The WhatsApp poll also shows something important. Young Indians are curious, engaged and willing to reflect on their own health choices. They already have part of the picture; they just need the dots connected in a way that fits the realities of their lives.

Antibiotics can remain powerful, life-saving tools. But only if this generation understands how to protect them. And that starts with small decisions made every day in pharmacies, clinics, hostels and homes.

*Analysis is based on a poll survey conducted on Yoot in November 2025, using responses and insights shared by participants on the platform. Featured image from Canva’s royalty-free image gallery, for representational purposes.

This article was originally published on Youth Ki Awaaz.