Hello to all of our Cellfie readers. Today, the brilliant Eloise has written a worrying, but excellently written, article about the devastating effects of antibiotic resistance.
For over a year, the world has been in a ‘global pandemic’ due to COVID-19. We have seen healthcare systems in every country crumble and the economy fall with it. Scientists have been warning governments of their vulnerability to pandemics for decades now in various science journals and studies. They highlighted cracks in the ‘modern lifestyle’ that would let pathogens seep through, such as: climate change, urbanization, and the closer proximity of humans to forest and farm animals. When you put international air travel and the potential a war has to accelerate the spread of microbes into the mix, the scenario of a pandemic wasn’t an ‘if’ but a ‘when?’. In retrospect, we all wish the scientists had been listened to decades ago, so listen up now.
What is antibiotic resistance?
Normally, antibiotics work by interfering with the bacteria’s reproduction process via attacks on the wall of the bacteria. The ability to kill bacteria this way was famously discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and thus followed the widespread use of this particular antibiotic, known as penicillin, in 1942. In fact, it only took five years (until 1947) for the first case of penicillin-resistant bacteria to be recorded. All it takes is one single random mutation of a bacteria’s DNA, such as a substituted or deleted nucleotide, for a new allele (alternative versions a gene) to be coded for that can combat the antibiotic’s attack on the bacteria’s wall. Under the selective pressure of mass-used penicillin, this allele becomes advantageous, so only the bacteria with this mutation can survive and reproduce to pass on the advantageous allele to the next generations. Those bacteria without the, now advantageous, allele are killed by the penicillin, leaving a larger population of penicillin-resistant bacteria. A pattern has been recognised by scientists, that for every antibiotic developed, prescribed, and used, a resistant bacteria evolves, coined as a ‘Superbug’, for example: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter or Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus.
Why is this a problem?
These Superbugs emerge only as a response to our overuse of antibiotics. We are putting the selective pressure on bacteria that makes the mutations and alleles advantageous. One by one, antibiotics are rendered useless and bacterial infections that the ‘miracle drugs’ could once treat are growing in their mortality rates. According to the CDC’s report on antibiotic resistance’s threat in 2019, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. On a global scale, the World Health Organisation (WHO), estimates that by 2050 antibiotic-resistance may cause 10 million deaths a year. Not only are antibiotics used for infections like UTIs (Urinary tract infections), pneumonia and sexually transmitted bacterial infections (Gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, etc.), but they are vital to surgery, cancer treatments and agriculture. Without the ability to use effective antibiotics in each of these scenarios, the future of medicine and the meat industry is at stake.
How are we slowing the pandemic?
In order to stop the price and strength of antibiotics having to go up, scientists are recommending that we do the following things:
1. Professionals should monitor antibiotic resistance and track its spread.
2. Improved diagnostic tests to identify drug resistant bacteria.
3. Invest more money into discovering new antibiotics.
4. Reduce the amount of unnecessary prescriptions of antibiotics made.
5. Farmers should stop giving their animals antibiotics used to treat human bacterial infections.
Despite the growing awareness of antibiotic resistance and guidance on how to prevent it, in 2015 it was reported that 23.3% of antibiotic prescribing in Australian hospitals didn’t comply with guidelines and 21.9% were assessed as inappropriate, where the antibiotics weren’t needed, the spectrum of antibiotics used was too broad, and the dose or length of treatment was incorrect. Statistics like this aren’t uncommon, in fact reports like this from countries everywhere are coming up with the same information: antibiotic resistance is defeating us.
Admittedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has pulled attention away from antibiotic resistance in the medical community over the last year, nonetheless, it has also highlighted the devastating affects a pandemic can have on healthcare systems across the world. Scientists are urging us to look at the figures and to listen to their advice in order to keep the 10 million deaths a year by 2050 a frightening dystopian.
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