An article published in The Lancet highlights once again that superbugs are becoming an increasingly serious global health issue.
Superbugs refer to bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. A comprehensive study based on 2019 data from 204 countries has shown that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are rapidly becoming one of the greatest global threats to human health.

According to research conducted in 2019, superbugs were found to cause more deaths than AIDS and malaria combined. Scientists reached this conclusion after analyzing hospital records, epidemiological surveillance data, and other sources. These records included data from nearly 471 million cases. Statistical modeling allowed researchers to estimate the potential impact of antimicrobial resistance even in regions lacking direct data. The key findings of the study include:

• This was the first comprehensive global analysis to reveal that in 2019, 1.27 million deaths were directly attributed to antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections — a number higher than the combined deaths caused by AIDS (860,000) and malaria (640,000). Furthermore, antimicrobial resistance was identified as a contributing factor in an estimated 4.95 million deaths due to various infections.

• The worst statistics were observed in low- and middle-income countries, although high-income nations are also experiencing a sharp rise in resistant infections.

• Doctors repeatedly emphasize that antibiotics should not be used indiscriminately or without a prescription. They also warn against using antibiotics for viral infections, as these drugs are ineffective in such cases. Antimicrobial resistance poses a risk to people of all ages. However, the study found that children, especially those under five years old, are particularly vulnerable — accounting for nearly one-fifth of all deaths linked to drug-resistant bacterial infections.

• Alarming data show that hundreds of thousands of people are now dying from infections that were once easily treatable, such as lower respiratory tract infections and bloodstream infections. This shift is largely due to the rise of superbugs that no longer respond to available treatment options.

• Scientists stress the urgent need for strengthened measures to combat superbugs and have proposed several recommendations to governments. These include: regulating the use of existing antibiotics, implementing broader infection monitoring and control programs, developing new antibiotics and therapies for resistant infections, and increasing financial investments in this field. It’s important to note that no major new antibiotics have been discovered or produced globally in recent decades.

Professor Christopher Murray of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, one of the lead authors of the study, states:

“This new data reveals the true scale of the global threat posed by superbugs and sends a serious signal that we must act immediately.”
He adds that while earlier estimates predicted 10 million deaths per year due to superbugs by 2050, current trends suggest that we are much closer to that number than previously thought. He stresses that to avoid falling behind in the fight against superbugs, we must use this data to reshape our strategies and implement urgent innovations.

Among the 23 bacterial pathogens examined, five — E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii, and P. aeruginosa — were responsible for 929,000 deaths and contributed to 3.57 million more. In 2019 alone, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was responsible for over 100,000 deaths. Additionally, five other pathogens each played a significant role in 50,000 to 100,000 deaths. Over 70% of these deaths were linked to resistance against two major classes of antibiotics: fluoroquinolones and beta-lactams — both widely used in the treatment of severe infections.

The health impact of superbugs varies significantly by geographic region. In Africa, for instance, most deaths were associated with S. pneumoniae (16%) or K. pneumoniae (20%). In contrast, in high-income countries, 26% of deaths were due to S. aureus, and 23% were caused by E. coli.

The authors acknowledge that their research has some limitations. These include a lack of data from certain regions, which may affect the precision of the statistics. Moreover, it was not always possible to accurately classify infections or determine exactly which bacteria were resistant to which antibiotics.

 

This article was published in Issue 29 of Fatima Magazine.