Life-threatening infections are on the rise due to drug-resistant bacteria, new WHO report reveals
Furthermore, high levels of resistance are observed in bacteria that frequently cause nosocomial bacteremia. Global Antibiotic Use and Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) states, based on 2020 data from 87 countries.
“Antibiotic resistance undermines modern medicine and put millions of lives at risk,” he said. WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Monitor resistance
In the context of national testing coverage, the report analyzes antibiotic resistance rates (AMRs) for the first time, tracking trends in 27 countries since 2017.
It shows high levels of resistance to bacteria, which often cause life-threatening blood infections in the hospital, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spprequires antibiotic treatment of last resort, such as carbapenem.
However, eight percent of infections are caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae were resistant to carbapenems, increasing the risk of death.
A doctor examines a sample at a microbiology laboratory in a teaching hospital in Nigeria.
The drug has lost its effect
Bacterial infections are becoming increasingly resistant to treatments, with more than 60% gonorrhea disease infection, a common sexually transmitted disease, has shown resistance to ciprofloxacin, one of the most widely used oral antibacterial drugs.
And more than 20 percent of E coli isolates, the most common pathogens in urinary tract infections, have become resistant to ampicillin and co-trimoxazole, first-line drugs, as well as second-line treatments known as fluoroquinolones.
Need to dive deeper
Although most antibiotic resistance trends have remained stable over the past four years, bacteremia caused by drug resistance E coli, infection, and dermatological disease infections, has increased by at least 15% from the 2017 rate.
More research is needed to explore why AMR is on the rise and how infections are related to hospital admissions and antibiotic treatment during pregnancy. COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic also means that some countries cannot report data for 2020.
We have to scale up microbiological testing – WHO head
“To truly understand the magnitude of the global threat and deliver an effective public health response to AMR, we must scale up microbiological testing and provide data that is safe,” stressed Tedros. quality assurance across all countries, not just the richer ones.”
‘Drug combo
New analyzes show that countries with lower testing coverage – mainly low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) – are more likely to report significantly higher rates of AMR for what This is called a “microbiological drug” combination.
This may be partly due to the fact that only a limited number of referring hospitals in many LMICs provided data for the GLASS report.
These hospitals often care for the sickest patients who may have been treated with antibiotics before.
Meanwhile, in terms of antibiotic consumption, 65% of the 27 reporting countries have met the WHO’s goal of ensuring that at least 60% of antimicrobials are first or second treatment.
These ‘ACCESS’ antibiotics are effective in a wide range of infections with a relatively low risk of developing resistance.
However, inadequate testing coverage and weak laboratory capacity, especially in LMICs, make AMR rates difficult to interpret.
The overuse and misuse of antibiotics is a major cause of antibiotic resistance (AMR).
Move forward
WHO will take a two-pronged approach to close this important gap, by gathering short-term evidence through surveys and building long-term capacity for routine surveillance.
This will lead to AMR prevalence surveys at the national level to create databases and enable trends to be tracked for policy development, intervention monitoring, and strengthening laboratories that ensure Quality assurance for data reporting at all levels of the health system.
Responding to trends in antibiotic resistance requires a high level of commitment at the national level to strengthen surveillance and provide quality data and action by all people and communities, WHO said.
By increasing standardized data collection, the next phase of GLASS will strengthen action based on quality data to prevent the emergence and spread of AMR and protect antiviral drugs. organisms for future generations.
