'Superbug' Antimicrobial Resistance Major Global Threat To Human Health, Study Finds

Health experts are now warning that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) poses a major threat to humanity based on a report that found that the "superbug" infections claimed the lives of nearly 1.2 million people in 2019. This means that infections caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics hold direct connections for more deaths than malaria or AIDS/HIV.

Headlined "The overlooked pandemic of antimicrobial resistance", the report published in Lancet stated that antimicrobial resistance does play a significant role in up to 3.68 million other deaths across the globe.

Treating Antimicrobial Resistance

According to the study, AMR "disproportionately" affects poor individuals with little access to the second-line, more expensive antibiotics that could work after the failure of the first-line drugs.

"These new data reveal the true scale of antimicrobial resistance worldwide, and are a clear signal that we must act now to combat the threat," said co-author of the study Chris Murray of the University of Washington.

As per studies and research conducted earlier, the superbugs could kill approximately 10 million people per year come 2050. However, according to the latest findings, the above-mentioned milestone could be reached much earlier than previously estimated, Chris Murray claimed.

The evaluation estimates for 204 nations have been collected from various sources, including pharmaceutical surveillance networks, public health systems, previous studies, and many more.

Furthermore, methodological assumptions had to be adapted for those areas around the globe from where statistics were lacking.

Drug-Resistant Infections

In November 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report claiming that Antimicrobial Resistance is quickly emerging as a global concern and is still developing.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when viruses, fungi, bacteria, and parasites change over time and respond to medicines no longer. Shifts like this in nature turns infections harder to treat and also raise the risk of death, severe illness and disease spread.

The head of the drug-resistant infections programme at Wellcome Trust, Tim Jinks, was earlier quoted by a Wion report: "The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of global collaboration: political leaders, the healthcare community, the private sector and the public working together to tackle a global health threat."

Furthermore, Jinks also added that researchers know what needs to be done to address AMR, just like the coronavirus. However, there is a need to come together with absolute urgency and global solidarity if there is a wish to be successful.

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