The Battle Against Bacteria

The overuse of antibiotics has led to the evolution of resistant “superbugs” that threaten our health. We take a look at what can be done about it.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers antibiotic resistance “one of the biggest threats to global public health”. A few years ago, then-US President Barack Obama recognised the threat and launched a National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

At that time, the US Government issued a warning that the emergence of drug-resistance in bacteria was undermining our ability to treat bacterial infections and perform a range of modern medical procedures, including surgery, chemotherapy and organ transplantation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventation estimates that drug-resistant bacteria already causes 23,000 deaths and two million illnesses each year in the US. In January, WHO published the first report of its new Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS), highlighting the scale of the problem. Countries are reporting that resistance to penicillin – used for decades to treat diseases, including pneumonia – ranges from 0 to 51 per cent. The proportion of bacteria resistance to treatments for bloodstream infections ranges from 0 to 82 per cent of the E.coli bacteria associated with urinary tract infections are now also resistant to mainstream antibiotics.

“Some of the world’s most common – and potentially most dangerous – infections are proving to be drug-resistant. The report confirms the serious situation of antibiotic resistance worldwide,” says Dr Marc Sprenger, director of WHO’s Antimicrobial Resistance Secretariat.

Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics work by killing bacteria, slowing their growth and stopping their ability to cause infection. They are the frontline treatment for reducing the risk of infection during organ transplantation, chemotherapy treatment, caesarean sections and other surgical procedures.