The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised concern over the increasing resistance to antibiotics in common bacterial infections, especially the bacteria that cause life-threatening bloodstream infections. In a new report, the organization has revealed high levels (above 50 per cent) of resistance to antibiotics in bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp.
It said, “These life-threatening infections require treatment with last-resort antibiotics, such as carbapenems. However, 8 per cent of bloodstream infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae were reported as resistant to carbapenems, increasing the risk of death due to unmanageable infections.”
According to the UN body, the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) report is based on data reported by 87 countries in 2020.
More bacterial infections becoming resistant to treatments
Apart from Klebsiella pneumoniae, many other common bacterial infections are also becoming increasingly resistant to treatments. As per the report, these include:
Neisseria gonorrhoea, a common sexually transmitted disease: Over 60 per cent of Neisseria gonorrhoea isolates have reportedly become resistant to ciprofloxacin, one of the most used oral antibacterials.
E.coli, the most common cause of urinary tract infections: Over 20 per cent of E.coli isolates were reported resistant to both first-line drugs (ampicillin and co-trimoxazole) and second-line treatments (fluoroquinolones).
Moreover, antimicrobial resistance in bloodstream infections due to Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. and gonorrhoea infections have increased by at least 15 per cent compared to rates in 2017.
Noting that antimicrobial resistance puts millions of lives at risk, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed the need to scale up microbiology testing across all countries to combat this global threat.
“Responding to trends of antimicrobial resistance requires high-level commitment from countries to boost surveillance capacity and provide quality assured data as well as action by all people and communities,” WHO stated in its report.
In six years, GLASS has achieved participation from 127 countries, covering 72 per cnet of the world’s population.