Carriage of Antibiotic‐Resistant Fecal Bacteria in Nepal

To the Editor—Recently, Walson et al. [1] reported the results of a study on antibiotic-resistant fecal bacteria in Nepal. It is a concern that the male population was underrepresented in the sample from Simigaun, owing to the temporary absence of this population in the area. This fact might have skewed the data and the results in the study. As is common with many underdeveloped regions, Nepal has a male-dominated society, which means that women in a household are given less access to health care than are their male partners [2]; as a result, women receive less medication and have a lower chance of acquiring resistant organisms. Having practiced medicine in Nepal for years, I also would like to mention that a visit to a doctor most often does not mean exposure to antibiotics. Although antibiotics are widely available and often are misused in the country, they still are too expensive to be afforded easily. In Nepal, people have to buy their own medications.