Antimicrobial resistance now causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS and malaria worldwide

Spread the love

According to new data, antimicrobial resistance is now the leading cause of death worldwide. An article about antimicrobial resistance, written by Jonathan Cox, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Aston University with the topic, Antimicrobial resistance now causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS and malaria worldwide, originally published at The Conversation and republished here at healthy life, with all credit to The Conversation.

Antimicrobial resistance now causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS and malaria worldwide
Antibiotic resistance is spreading worldwide due to irrational use of drugs

Antimicrobial resistance is spreading rapidly worldwide, and has even been likened to the next pandemic – one that many people may not even be aware is happening. A recent paper, published in Lancet, has revealed that antimicrobial resistant infections caused 1.27 millions deaths and were associated with 4.95 million deaths in 2019. This is greater than the number of people who died from HIV/AIDS and malaria that year combined.

Antimicobial resistance happens when infection-causing microbes (such as bacteria, viruses or fungi) evolve to become resistant to the drug designed to kill them. This means than an antibiotic will no longer work to treat that infection anymore.

The new findings makes it clear that antimicrobial resistance is progressing faster than the previous worst-case scenario estimates – which is of concern for everyone. The simple fact is that we’re running out of antibiotics that work. This could mean everyday bacterial infections become life-threatening again.

While antimicrobial resistance has been a problem since penicillin was discovered in 1928, our continued exposure to antibiotics has enabled bacteria and other pathogens to evolve powerful resistance. In some cases, these microbes are resistant even to multiple different drugs. This latest study now shows the current scale of this problem globally – and the harm it’s causing.

Global problem

The study involved 204 countries around the world, looking at data from 471 million individual patient records. By looking at deaths due to and associated with antimicrobial resistance, the team was then able to estimate the impact antimicrobial resistance had in each country.

Antimicrobial resistance was directly responsible for an estimated 1.27 million deaths worldwide and was associated with an estimated 4.95 millions deaths. In comparison, HIV/AIDS and malaria were estimated to have caused 860,000 and 640,000 deaths respectively the same year. The researchers also found that low- and middle-income countries were worst hit by antimicrobial resistance – although higher income countries also face alarmingly high levels.

They also found that of the 23 different types of bacteria studied, drug resistance in only six types of bacteria contributed to 3.57 million deaths. The report also shows that 70% of deaths that resulted from antimicrobial resistance were caused by resistance to antibiotics often considered the first line of defence against severe infections. These included beta-lactams and fluoroquinolones, which are commonly prescribed for many infections, such as urinary tract, upper- and lower-respiratory and bone and joint infections.

Bacteria were resistant to even commonly prescribed antibiotics

This study highlights a very clear message that global antimicrobial resistance could make everyday bacterial infections untreatable. By some estimates, antimicrobial resistance could cause 10 million deaths per year by 2050. This would overtake cancer as a leading cause of death worldwide.

Next pandemic

Bacteria can develop antimicrobial resistance in a number of ways.

First, bacteria develop antimicrobial resistance naturally. It’s part of the normal push and pull observed throughout the natural world. As we get stronger, bacteria will get stronger too. It’s part of our co-evolution with bacteria – they’re just quicker at evolving than we are, partly because they replicate faster and get more genetic mutations than we do.

But the way we use antibiotics can also cause resistance.

For example, one common cause is if people fail to complete a course of antibiotics. Although people may feel better a few days after starting antibiotics, not all bacteria are made equal. Some may be slower to be affected by the antibiotic than others. This means that if you stop taking the antibiotic early, the bacteria that were initially able to avoid the effect of the antibiotics will be able to multiply, thus passing their resistance on.

Likewise, taking antibiotics unnecessarily can help bacteria to evolve resistance to antibiotics faster. This is why it’s important not to take antibiotics unless they’re prescribed, and to only use them for the infection they’re prescribed for.

Resistance can also be spread from person to person. For example, if someone who has antibiotic-resistant bacteria in their nose sneezes or coughs, it may be spread to people nearby. Research also shows that antimicrobial resistance can be spread through the environment, such as in unclean drinking water.

The causes driving this global antimicrobial resistance crisis are complex. Everything from how we take antibiotics to environmental pollution with antimicrobial chemicals, use of antibiotics in agriculture and even preservatives in our shampoo and toothpaste are all contributing to resistance. This is why a global, unified effort will be needed to make a difference.

Urgent change is needed in many industries to slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Of the greatest importance is using the antibiotics we have smarter. Combination therapy could hold the answer to slowing down antimicrobial resistance. This involves using several drugs in combination, rather than one drug on its own – making it more difficult for bacteria to evolve resistance, while still successfully treating an infection.

The next pandemic is already here – so further investment in research that looks at how we can stop this problem will be key.

healthy life is a website where you can find articles that are relevant to you. Healthylife.com.pk contains up-to-date health and medicine news and information on a variety of vital topics relating to our health and human body systems. You may also get a roundup of recently published research articles in various research journals here. A significant article regarding Antimicrobial resistance now causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS and malaria worldwide, initially published at The Conversation and all credits go to the conversation and was republished today in healthy Life. I hope you found this article very helpful.

15 thoughts on “Antimicrobial resistance now causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS and malaria worldwide

  1. My name’s Eric and I just came across your website – healthylife.com.pk – in the search results.

    Here’s what that means to me…

    Your SEO’s working.

    You’re getting eyeballs – mine at least.

    Your content’s pretty good, wouldn’t change a thing.

    BUT…

    Eyeballs don’t pay the bills.

    CUSTOMERS do.

    And studies show that 7 out of 10 visitors to a site like healthylife.com.pk will drop by, take a gander, and then head for the hills without doing anything else.

    It’s like they never were even there.

    You can fix this.

    You can make it super-simple for them to raise their hand, say, “okay, let’s talk” without requiring them to even pull their cell phone from their pocket… thanks to Talk With Web Visitor.

    Talk With Web Visitor is a software widget that sits on your site, ready and waiting to capture any visitor’s Name, Email address and Phone Number. It lets you know immediately – so you can talk to that lead immediately… without delay… BEFORE they head for those hills.

    CLICK HERE http://boostleadgeneration.com to try out a Live Demo with Talk With Web Visitor now to see exactly how it works.

    Now it’s also true that when reaching out to hot leads, you MUST act fast – the difference between contacting someone within 5 minutes versus 30 minutes later is huge – like 100 times better!

    That’s what makes our new SMS Text With Lead feature so powerful… you’ve got their phone number, so now you can start a text message (SMS) conversation with them… so even if they don’t take you up on your offer right away, you continue to text them new offers, new content, and new reasons to do business with you.

    This could change everything for you and your business.

    CLICK HERE http://boostleadgeneration.com to learn more about everything Talk With Web Visitor can do and start turing eyeballs into money.

    Eric
    PS: Talk With Web Visitor offers a FREE 14 days trial – you could be converting up to 100x more leads immediately!
    It even includes International Long Distance Calling.
    Paying customers are out there waiting.
    Starting connecting today by CLICKING HERE http://boostleadgeneration.com to try Talk With Web Visitor now.

    If you’d like to unsubscribe click here http://boostleadgeneration.com/unsubscribe.aspx?d=healthylife.com.pk

Comments are closed.