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I want to get healthier. Close Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss Print this issue. For nearly a century, bacteria-fighting drugs known as antibiotics have helped to control and destroy many of the harmful bacteria that can make us sick.
But in recent decades, antibiotics have been losing their punch against some types of bacteria. Superbugs are strains of bacteria that are resistant to several types of antibiotics. Each year these drug-resistant bacteria infect more than 2 million people nationwide and kill at least 23,, according to the U.
Drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and staph infections are just a few of the dangers we now face. Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs for people. Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections, such as strep throat and some types of pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and ear infections.
Unfortunately, many antibiotics prescribed to people and to animals are unnecessary. And the overuse and misuse of antibiotics helps to create drug-resistant bacteria. When used properly, antibiotics can help destroy disease-causing bacteria. Bacteria that are tough enough to survive the drug will have a chance to grow and quickly multiply. These drug-resistant strains may even spread to other people.
Over time, if more and more people take antibiotics when not necessary, drug-resistant bacteria can continue to thrive and spread. They include such nasties as E. Antibiotics have a tough time dealing with Gram negative bacteria because of their additional outer membrane, which prevents drugs from getting inside. Gram negative bacterial infections concern doctors and researchers because there are fewer drugs to treat them and - more worryingly - fewer in the pipeline to deal with them in the future.
While they are easier to treat, and there are many more drugs available to combat them, there are also many, many times the numbers of drug-resistant infections from Gram positive bacteria compared with Gram negative.
Blaskovich points to a report from the Centers for Disease Control CDC in the US from , which counted the number of infections and the number of deaths from different types of drug-resistant bacteria. The number of infections from drug-resistant Gram positive MRSA or strep pneumonia were over a million, versus 30, or so from Gram negative bacterial infections. And drug-resistant Gram positive bacteria were by far the biggest killers in the report, too.
The number of deaths from resistant bacteria were about five-fold higher for Gram positive compared to Gram negative infections. In some respects, we are suffering from too much of a good thing. Globally, the major cause of drug resistance is the overuse of the drugs. India and some Asian countries suffer the most from antibiotic-resistant strains, but other nations such as Brazil, Greece, and South Africa have serious problems, as well.
There are strong correlations with those countries where antibiotics are available over the counter for people to take whenever they want and the incidence of high levels of resistant bacteria. And with global travel to assist the spread, nowhere is safe.
The other major misuse is in agriculture. High rates of COVID infection are setting Africa back but young innovators across the continent are deploying a social entrepreneurship skillset to fight the pandemic from the grassroots. I accept. Take action on UpLink. Forum in focus. Read more about this project. Explore context. Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis.
Antimicrobial resistance is a top 10 global public health threat, according to the World Health Organization. Medicine overuse — in humans and agriculture — has exacerbated the problem. Antimicrobial-resistant infections could cause 10 million deaths a year by , according to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week aims to promote action to limit the risks.
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