Image by Vachagan Malkhasyan from Pixabay
A recent study on antimicrobial resistance published in the journal, The Lancet, estimates the death toll associated with super bugs could rise to more than 39 million between 2025 and 2050. By 2050, the number of deaths from infections that are resistant to the medications intended to treat them will likely increase by nearly 70%.
What’s changed?
Antimicrobial resistance due to factors such as overuse of antibiotics to start with.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance “occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines.”
Antimicrobials include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics. Medications used to treat or prevent infectious diseases.
When these pathogens become resistant to drugs meant to kill them, the risk of widespread infection, severe illness, disability, and death increase dramatically.
While certain mutations occur over time, resulting in antimicrobial resistance, overuse of antimicrobials and their misuse accelerate that natural process.
Antimicrobial Resistance is “one of the top global public health and development threats”
– World Health Organization
The WHO calls antimicrobial resistance “one of the top global public health and development threats.” In 2019 alone, superbugs resistant to drugs were directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths worldwide and were a contributing factor in 4.95 million more.
The organization cites “misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals, and plants” as the primary driver of drug-resistant pathogens.
Drug-resistant bacteria complicates even routine medical procedures and treatment. Surgeries, caesarean sections and cancer chemotherapy become more risky. This somewhat undoes much of the modern medical gain we have achieved as a civilization.
Imagine, dying of a bacterial infection much like occurred during colonial days.
This is no historical fiction.
It happens.
Every. Single. Day.
What starts out as a simple infection becomes untreatable. Then the body becomes septic. The patient succumbs to what should be a treatable illness.
Antimicrobial resistance is affecting the cost of health care. Quite significantly.
The World Bank estimates that antimicrobial resistance could increase healthcare costs by $1 trillion by 2050.
But the cost of health care is not the only economical impact anticipated. The organization also believes a jarring impact of between $1 trillion and $3.4 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) losses are expected PER YEAR by 2030.
Lengthened recovery, reduced workforce, and other factors potentially contribute to these findings.
This recently published study looked at historical data on 84 bacterial pathogen/drug combinations.
They identified deaths attributable to (caused by) and associated with (played a role in) antimicrobial resistant illnesses.
Data uncovered 1.06 million deaths attributable to drug-resistant pathogens in 1990. Thos associated with the pathogens in 1990 totaled 4.78 million.
This rose to 1.2 million attributable deaths and 4.94 million attributable deaths in 2019.
The 2021 statistics showed a slight decrease in those statistics.
Sepsis related deaths went from 29% in 1990 to 35% in 2019.
Certain groups of people, like children younger than five years are showing a decreasing overall drug-resistant pathogen mortality rate.
While that sounds promising, the rate of sepsis deaths in this age group is significantly higher. In fact, the study found that in 2021, “31.3% of sepsis deaths in children younger than 5 years were associated with drug-resistant bacteria, a 5.18% increase relative to 1990.”
What does this mean?
Essentially, while children are experiencing fewer antimicrobial infections, those infections are taking over their entire bodies. Globally, many children are dying due to scarcity of or access to antibiotics that can be used to treat those infections.
The largest increase in drug-resistant pathogen mortality rate has been found in older individuals.
This increase in mortality begins to rise at 50 years old. Those over 70 showed the most significant increase.
The study found that the mortality rate for drug resistant infections in those over 70 years of age increased by more than 80% between 1990 and 2021.
As serious as antimicrobial resistance appears, the concept of repairing the damage is simple. But simple does not necessarily quickly attainable.
Societal perspectives in prevention, novel antibiotics, and vaccination are necessary to reduce the number of anticipated deaths due to antimicrobial resistance by 2050.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, said Benjamin Franklin. It could not be more appropriate today.
Focusing on staying healthy. Eating well, exercising, boosting the immune system. All these things can go a long way in preventing illness. It may not prevent infection. But could contribute to helping the body fight off infection naturally.
A change in perspective is also an important aspect of minimizing antimicrobial resistance deaths.
Nobody likes to be sick. As a society with relatively easy access to healthcare, it can be simple to go to the doctor or log on to a Tele Health platform for every cough or congestion. Especially with the looming threat of a pandemic level virus.
However, a prescription for an antibiotic or antiviral while the labs process your specimen can lead to inappropriate or unnecessary medications being administered.
For those in higher risk groups where minor infections can cause serious illness, this message is not for you. Those with a compromised immune system are generally under closer care from a health professional who understands their specific needs.
For everyone else. Sometimes it sucks being sick. But in many cases, our bodies can recover without that filled prescription. If you truly need the medication, take it completely as prescribed. Even if you feel better within a day or two. Finish out the prescription. Incomplete antimicrobial protocols can contribute to pathogen mutation and make the situation even worse.
Imagine a quick diagnostic test could accurately identify which medication will specifically treat it.
These tests exist. However, culture diagnostic tests can take several days or even a week to perform.
New technology is also needed in the formulation of novel antibiotics. New drugs that these microbes have never encountered are necessary to treat highly resistant pathogens.
Widespread use of vaccination can help prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistant pathogens. Giving the body the tools to fight the infection off without additional medication can go a long way in preventing illness.
The United States has come a long way in mandating the minimization of antibiotic use in farming. Regulations involving the use of antimicrobials typically used for humans is in place for most farming industries.
Other medications must be used instead. And only when necessary.
Consuming food potentially contaminated with antimicrobial resistance germs contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistant pathogens.
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “Recent Study Explores Antimicrobial Resistance and Estimates Superbug Death Toll Will Hit Nearly 40 Million by 2050,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)
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