WHO report: antibiotic resistance has significantly increased globally, with a 40% rise in 5 years

Antibiotic resistance is developing faster than medical progress - new WHO data show alarming trends, particularly evident at the regional level.

UNN reports with reference to dpa.

Details

The resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is acquiring a new scale, as revealed by the latest study. Antibiotic resistance - the ability of microorganisms to survive and multiply despite the presence of antibiotics - is developing rapidly and leads to the inability to treat serious diseases.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections worldwide is caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Representatives of the World Health Organization also studied various combinations of bacteria and antibiotics. For example, from 2018 to 2023, bacterial resistance to antibiotics increased by more than 40%. The growth was mainly at the level of 5-15% per year (depending on the combination of bacteria and antibiotics).

It is indicated that the study used about 23 million data sets from more than 100 countries.

Reference

Every use of antibiotics contributes to the development of resistance, as sensitive bacteria die under the action of the antibiotic. At the same time, bacteria resistant to the active ingredient due to a random mutation survive and continue to multiply.

Antibiotic-resistant pathogens are often found where many antibiotics are used, for example, in hospitals and agriculture

Key findings:

• the development of antibiotic resistance cannot be prevented;
• but, at best, it can be slowed down.

Therefore, antibiotics should be used sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.

Regional differences in antibiotic resistance

The study also concluded that there are large regional differences in antibiotic resistance. For example, in Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, one in three registered infections is already resistant to the antibiotics studied.

This problem is particularly prevalent in countries with weak healthcare systems. According to WHO, in 2021, 7.7 million people worldwide died from bacterial infections. About 1.1 million of them were directly related to antibiotic resistance

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