WHO Report Suggests Resistance to Antibiotics Growing

December 9, 2022 by Dan McCue
WHO Report Suggests Resistance to Antibiotics Growing
(World Health Organization photo by Etinosa Yvonne)

GENEVA, Switzerland — Bacteria responsible for common infections are showing an increasing resistance to the antibiotics used to treat those infections, a new report from the World Health Organization says.

In addition, the report, based on data collected in 87 countries in 2020, reports high levels of resistance in a bacteria known to cause life-threatening bloodstream infections.

“Antimicrobial resistance undermines modern medicine and puts millions of lives at risk,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general.

“To truly understand the extent of the global threat and mount an effective public health response to AMR, we must scale up microbiology testing and provide quality assured data across all countries, not just wealthier ones,” Ghebreyesus said.

The latest edition of the WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System report differs from past reports in that it is the first to look at antimicrobial resistance rates in the context of national testing coverage and antimicrobial consumption in humans.

Antimicrobials — including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics — are medicines used to prevent and treat infections.

Researchers found high levels of resistance — above 50% — in bacteria that frequently cause bloodstream infections in hospitals, including Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp

These life-threatening infections require treatment with last-resort antibiotics, such as carbapenems. 

However, 8% of bloodstream infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae were reported as resistant to carbapenems, increasing the risk of death due to unmanageable infections. 

Common bacterial infections are also becoming increasingly resistant to treatments. 

Over 60% of Neisseria gonorrhoea isolates, a common sexually transmitted disease, have shown resistance to one of the most-used oral antibacterials, ciprofloxacin. 

Over 20% of E.coli isolates — the most common pathogen in urinary tract infections — were resistant to both first-line drugs (ampicillin and co-trimoxazole) and second-line treatments (fluoroquinolones). 

Although most resistance trends have remained stable over the past four years, the researchers found that bloodstream infections due to resistant E. coli and Salmonella spp. and resistant gonorrhea infections increased by at least 15% compared to rates in 2017.

They go on to say that more research is needed to identify the reasons behind the observed increase in resistance and to what extent it is related to raised hospitalizations and increased antibiotic treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The pandemic also meant that several countries were unable to report data for 2020, they said.

As for antimicrobial consumption in humans, 65% of 27 reporting countries met the WHO’s target of ensuring that at least 60% of antimicrobials consumed are from the “ACCESS” group of antibiotics, i.e., antibiotics that — according to the WHO AWaRE classification — are effective in a wide range of common infections and have a relatively low risk of creating resistance.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue

A+
a-
  • microbials
  • World Health Organization
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Health

    December 8, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    FDA Approves a CRISPR-Based Medicine to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

    WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the world’s first medicine based on CRISPR gene-editing technology for... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the world’s first medicine based on CRISPR gene-editing technology for the treatment of sickle cell disease. The new treatment, called Casgevy, was manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, of Boston, Massachusetts, and CRISPR Therapeutics, of Switzerland, using a... Read More

    Chronic Fatigue Syndrome More Common Than Past Studies Suggest, CDC Says

    NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials on Friday released the first nationally representative estimate of how many U.S. adults have... Read More

    NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials on Friday released the first nationally representative estimate of how many U.S. adults have chronic fatigue syndrome: 3.3 million. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's number is larger than previous studies have suggested, and is likely boosted by some... Read More

    December 8, 2023
    by Tom Ramstack
    White House Threatens to Penalize Pharma Companies for High Prices

    WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced a plan Thursday to lower prescription drug costs in a move that takes a... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced a plan Thursday to lower prescription drug costs in a move that takes a tough stance toward pharmaceutical companies charging high prices. If the Federal Trade Commission determines the prices are unreasonable, the new policy allows the federal government to... Read More

    December 6, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    House Unanimously Passes Bill to Increase Mental Health Resources for Veterans’ Caregivers

    WASHINGTON — The House on Monday unanimously passed the Caregiver Outreach and Program Enhancement Act, which would increase mental health... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The House on Monday unanimously passed the Caregiver Outreach and Program Enhancement Act, which would increase mental health resources available to caregivers of America’s veteran population. Alternately known as the COPE Act, the bipartisan legislation sponsored by Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Jen Kiggans,... Read More

    December 6, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    HHS Unveils Next Steps to Enhance Cybersecurity of Health Care Records

    WASHINGTON — The bad guys in cyberspace want your health care records.  Between 2018 and 2022, there was a 93%... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The bad guys in cyberspace want your health care records.  Between 2018 and 2022, there was a 93% increase in large breaches in the health care sector, with a 278% increase in large breaches involving ransomware, according to the Department of Health and Human... Read More

    December 6, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    New Report Sheds Some Light on Rare Post-COVID Shot Syndrome

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A study from the Yale School of Medicine sheds some new light on the rare, but... Read More

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A study from the Yale School of Medicine sheds some new light on the rare, but chronic and debilitating condition some people report experiencing after getting a COVID-19 vaccination. The paper, which was posted on the preprint server medRxiv and has not... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top