Superbugs surge as antibiotic resistance threatens global health crisis
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As “superbugs” continue to rise, the World Health Organization warns that one in six bacterial infections is now resistant to antibiotics.
WHO also called for more responsible use of antibiotic drugs, according to a press release published on Monday.
Based on data from more than 100 countries between 2016 and 2023, the health agency found that antibiotic resistance was increasing in approximately 40% of infection patterns.
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The report includes eight common bacterial pathogens: Acinetobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, nontyphoidal Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae.
The most dangerous type of infection is caused by drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, especially E. coli and K. pneumoniae, and can lead to sepsis, organ failure and death, according to the report.
As “superbugs” continue to rise, the World Health Organization warns that one in six bacterial infections are resistant to antibiotics. (iStock)
Antibiotics are part of a larger group of drugs called antimicrobials, which also includes antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics.
According to the WHO, when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial drugs, this leads to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), increasing the risk of serious illness, disability or death.
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“Antimicrobial resistance is outpacing advances in modern medicine, threatening the health of families worldwide,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement accompanying the report. he said. “We must use antibiotics responsibly and ensure everyone has access to the right medicines, quality-assured diagnostics and vaccines.”
“Antimicrobial resistance is outpacing advances in modern medicine, threatening the health of families worldwide.”
More than one million deaths each year are directly linked to antibiotic resistance, according to a study by the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) Project.
In some cases, AMR may occur naturally because microbes mutate over time; but the WHO warns that it can also be caused by people’s “misuse and overuse” of antibiotics and other antimicrobials.
WHO called for more responsible use of antibiotic drugs. (iStock)
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel said the WHO’s latest report was “particularly worrying.”
“These are aggressive bacteria that are becoming increasingly difficult to treat,” he told Fox News Digital. “Carbapenem resistance in particular is very difficult to treat, just like multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.”
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Carbapenems are considered “last-line antibiotics” used to treat serious multidrug-resistant infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Siegel agrees that antibiotic overuse is a primary factor in both common upper respiratory tract infections and more serious hospital-acquired bacteria that live on hospital equipment.
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“It is also not very profitable for pharmaceutical companies to design antibiotics because they are only used when a person has an infection (episodic rather than daily use) and so we mostly rely on antibiotics that have been on the market for decades,” he added.
According to Siegel, artificial intelligence could offer a potential solution.
Based on data from more than 100 countries between 2016 and 2023, the health agency found that antibiotic resistance was increasing in approximately 40% of infection patterns. (iStock)
“Thanks to machine learning, artificial intelligence can invent new antibiotics faster and cheaper, as well as provide better cleaning and more rational use in the fight against infections,” he said.
To combat this problem, WHO is calling for increased surveillance of AMR and antimicrobial use through the agency’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS).
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“Countries should commit to strengthening laboratory systems and producing reliable surveillance data, particularly from underserved areas, to inform treatments and policies,” the report said. The statement was included. “WHO calls on all countries to report high-quality data on AMR and antimicrobial use to GLASS by 2030.”
