# 8552
For years we’ve heard dire warnings that our limited arsenal of antibiotics was in danger of being rendered useless against a growing army of resistant bacteria, and we could be facing a `post-antibiotic’ world. Today, the World Health Organization released an in-depth report showing just how close we are to finally seeing that grim future realized.
First, an excerpt from the press release, and then some links to some other reportage on the situation, after which I’ll be back with a bit more.
WHO’s first global report on antibiotic resistance reveals serious, worldwide threat to public health
New WHO report provides the most comprehensive picture of antibiotic resistance to date, with data from 114 countries
News release
30 April 2014 | Geneva - A new report by WHO–its first to look at antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, globally–reveals that this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future, it is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country. Antibiotic resistance–when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections–is now a major threat to public health.
“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” says Dr Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security. “Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier, and benefit from modern medicine. Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.”
Key findings of the report
The report, "Antimicrobial resistance: global report on surveillance", notes that resistance is occurring across many different infectious agents but the report focuses on antibiotic resistance in seven different bacteria responsible for common, serious diseases such as bloodstream infections (sepsis), diarrhoea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhoea. The results are cause for high concern, documenting resistance to antibiotics, especially “last resort” antibiotics, in all regions of the world.
Key findings from the report include:
- Resistance to the treatment of last resort for life-threatening infections caused by a common intestinal bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae–carbapenem antibiotics–has spread to all regions of the world. K. pneumoniae is a major cause of hospital-acquired infections such as pneumonia, bloodstream infections, infections in newborns and intensive-care unit patients. In some countries, because of resistance, carbapenem antibiotics would not work in more than half of people treated for K. pneumoniae infections.
- Resistance to one of the most widely used antibacterial medicines for the treatment of urinary tract infections caused by E. coli–fluoroquinolones–is very widespread. In the 1980s, when these drugs were first introduced, resistance was virtually zero. Today, there are countries in many parts of the world where this treatment is now ineffective in more than half of patients.
- Treatment failure to the last resort of treatment for gonorrhoea–third generation cephalosporins–has been confirmed in Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. More than 1 million people are infected with gonorrhoea around the world every day.
- Antibiotic resistance causes people to be sick for longer and increases the risk of death. For example, people with MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are estimated to be 64% more likely to die than people with a non-resistant form of the infection. Resistance also increases the cost of health care with lengthier stays in hospital and more intensive care required.
Some related articles on today’s announcement include:
- Maggie Fox at NBC news writes : Drug-Resistant Bugs a Global Threat, WHO Says
- Kai Kupferschmidt writing for Science Insider has First Global Resistance Overview Paints Grim Picture
- And Yesterday Maryn Mckenna penned a piece for Wired.com called NDM: “A Great Challenge for the Future of Healthcare”
In early 2012 World Health Director-General Margaret Chan expressed a dire warning about our dwindling antibiotic arsenal (see Chan: World Faces A `Post-Antibiotic Era’) – a sentiment echoed a year later by CDC Director Thomas Frieden during the release of a major US report on the threat (see McKenna On CDC Antibiotic Resistance Report).
Inevitable conclusions backed up by a long list of reports and studies showing the inexorable erosion the effectiveness of our current antibiotics to deal with rapidly evolving bacteria. Some of these reports I’ve covered in the past include:
EID Journal: Acquisition of Drug Resistant Genes Through International Travel
AAP/CDC: New Guidance On For Antibiotics For Children
The Lancet: Antibiotic Resistance - The Need For Global Solutions
UK CMO: Antimicrobial Resistance Poses `Catastrophic Threat’
MMWR Vital Signs: Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
And for a far more complete discussion of antimicrobial resistance issues, I can think of no better primer than Maryn McKenna’s book SUPERBUG: The Fatal Menace of MRSA.
Superbug (MRSA) Book
Meanwhile, Maryn’s SUPERBUG Blog, continues to provide the best day-to-day coverage of these issues, and I expect she’ll post something on today’s WHO report later today.
