Antimicrobial Resistance Microbial Rebellion

Antimicrobial Resistance Microbial Rebellion

  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a broad term that is used to describe the resistance of microbes like
    • Parasites
    • Viruses
    • Fungi
  • Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is used to describe the resistance displayed by bacteria.
  • Bacteria become antibiotic resistant and then infect humans.
  • Such infections are harder to treat than non- resistant bacteria.
Antibiotic Resistance

Overview

  • Antibiotic resistance is an emerging disruptive public health problem.
  • Not just elderly and infants are worst affected by drug resistance, but other age groups are vulnerable too.
  • According to a paper published in PLoS Medicine in 2016, more than 58,000 newborns are estimated to die from sepsis. The reason being pathogen resistant to first-line antibiotics.
  • ABR is making treatment of infectious diseases (e. g. leprosy) almost impossible.
  • It has made India՚s pledge to eradicate leprosy difficult.
  • India, since 2014, belongs to a group of countries (which includes Brazil and China also) , where leprosy can no longer be treated by MDT.
  • Though drug resistance is usually experienced by those who discontinue the treatment, the worrisome news is that new patients are also showing resistance to MDT.
  • In case of rifampicin, i.e.. one of the three drugs of MDT, resistance has been shown by –
    • 13% of the new cases
    • 44% of the relapsed cases
  • The rising number of drug resistant new patients since 2014 shows that resistant strains are actively circulating in India.
  • DR-TB is another major public health challenge that՚s emerging in India.
  • India has 26,966 MDR-TB patients in India, the highest in the world.
  • DR-TB is becoming prevalent in children also. DR-TB has increased to 9.6% among children affected from TB in India.
  • A study by ICMR found that two out of three healthy persons have antibiotic resistant organisms in their digestive tract.
  • The study has revealed that drug resistant microbes are found in healthy people too.
  • A report by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO revealed that there has been rapid increase in the proportion of isolates of Staphylococcus aureus that are resistant to methicillin.
  • ABR is a global phenomenon, but India is the epicenter of this catastrophe.
  • Easy access to the strongest antibiotics that too without diagnoses and prescription is afflicting the country.

Examrace Team at Aug 27, 2021