Antibiotic Resistance Can Turn Common Ailments To Fatal Diseases

Steps should be taken to fight the emergence of superbugs as infections become immune to existing drugs, allowing minor injuries and common diseases to become deadly.

Antibiotic resistance could become a global threat to mankind and claim 10 million lives by 2050 unless global changes are agreed to fight superbugs, warned a report.

Commissioned by the British government, the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance set out steps to fight the emergence of "superbugs" as infections become immune to existing drugs, allowing minor injuries and common infections to become deadly.

Seniors Have Superbugs on Their Hands After a Hospital Stay
Frequent antibiotic use in post-acute care patients also increases the probability that multidrug-resistant organisms introduced to a post-acute care facility will flourish.

‘Antibiotic resistance may lead to “pre-antibiotic era” where millions of people died in pandemics before drugs were discovered.’

"It needs to be seen as the economic and security threat that it is, and be at the forefront of the minds of heads of state," wrote Jim O'Neill, the economist who led the review.

The overuse of antibiotics should be reduced by cutting the vast quantities of medicines given to farm animals, improving diagnoses to stop unnecessary prescriptions, and a global public awareness campaign, the paper urged.

At the same time, researchers should be encouraged to develop new antibiotics through a global fund for research and rewards for those who manage to develop new drugs.

E-Cigarette Vapor Inhalation Boosts Superbugs and Dampens Immune System
E-cigarettes are toxic to human airway cells, suppress immune defenses and alter inflammation, while at the same time boosting bacterial virulence.

The cost of the measures was estimated to be $40 billion (35.6 billion euros) over ten years -- far less than the cost if the growing problem is not addressed.

"There is no excuse for inaction given what we know about the impact of rising drug resistance," the paper said.

Cigarette Smoke Makes Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs Deadlier
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be more aggressive and dangerous if it comes in contact with cigarette smoke.

Governments will face the cost "sooner or later", it added.

"They can either do so proactively by taking action now and pay less for better outcomes, or remain unprepared and end up spending much more taxpayer money on far worse outcomes further down the line."

Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs Could Kill a Million Chinese a Year
China faces a million deaths a year from antibiotic-resistant superbugs and a loss of $20 trillion by 2050 and these issue doesn't distinguish between religion, color or race.

The paper argued that the response could be funded through countries' health budgets or through taxes on pharmaceutical companies that do not invest in antibiotic research.

O'Neill, an economist, known for coining the term "BRIC" to describe large emerging countries and who was asked by the British government to chair the review, noted that one million people had died of antimicrobial resistance since the review started in mid-2014.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already warned antimicrobial resistance may result in "a return to the pre-antibiotic era," when millions of people died in pandemics before drugs were discovered that could treat them.

Source-AFP