The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a major global public health problem.
In its recent publication, the international body has asked countries to implement hospital infection control measures so as to limit the spread of multi-drug-resistant strains, a significant contributor to AMR.
AMR – the ability of micro-organisms to find ways to evade the action of the drugs used to cure the infections they cause – is increasingly recognised as a global public health issue which could hamper the control of many infectious diseases.
Some bacteria have developed mechanisms that render them resistant to many of the antibiotics normally used for their treatment (multi-drug resistant bacteria), and so pose particular difficulties, as there may be few or no alternative options for therapy.
The issue has gained extreme severity as researchers have also identified a new gene that enables certain types of bacteria to be highly resistant to almost all antibiotics.
While multi-drug resistant bacteria are not new and will continue to appear, this development requires monitoring and further study to understand the extent and modes of transmission, and to define the most effective measures for control.
The WHO called upon governments, consumers, doctors, dispensers, veterinarians, managers of hospitals and diagnostic laboratories, patients and visitors, healthcare facilities, pharmaceutical firms, professional societies and international agencies to be alert to the problem of AMR and take appropriate steps.
The healthy body strongly recommended that governments focus control and prevention efforts in surveillance for antimicrobial resistance; rational antibiotic use, including education of healthcare workers and the public in the appropriate use of antibiotics.
It also expected governments to introduce and enforce legislation related to stopping the selling of antibiotics without prescription and strict adherence to infection prevention and control measures, including the use of hand-washing measures, particularly in healthcare facilities.
Successful control of multi-drug-resistant microorganisms has been documented in many countries, and the existing and well-known infection prevention and control measures can effectively reduce transmission of multi-drug resistant organisms if rigorously and systematically implemented.
Wisely used antibiotics are a blessing and patient friendly but with the scale of use currently practiced mutant or resistant bacteria can get deadly. Scientists and health authorities estimate that over 50,000 tons of antibiotics are used every year worldwide and India’s contribution can only be minuscule as large sections of our population are the beyond the pale of modern medical care. The threat of mutant bacteria is a real risk and so the fear of the “Superbug”. Experts fear that the ability of the bacterium to mutate will outpace the ability of scientists to create new drugs.
Incomplete eradication of the bacteria leads to mutations that have increased resistance to the drugs. Bacteria and viruses constitute the largest species on Earth and have an uncanny ability to survive under extreme conditions. A complex fusion of factors maybe responsible for the evolution and spread of resistant bacteria across the world
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