Superbugs are the next major health crisis of our time
Too often, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is called a plague of tomorrow. It’s an urgent issue, with the potential of being the next major health crisis; at least until there is a more urgent issue to overshadow it. But experts agree the effects of administering antibiotics to patients who do not need them are already being seen. A major factor behind this antibiotic resistance is the overuse of antibiotics. Infections that are resistant to frontline antibiotic therapies have led to the rise of superbugs. And what began as a simple infection will overtake the human body and kill when a bug becomes smart enough to outwit all available antibiotics. According to the WHO, superbugs-bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites that are immune to antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals-are expected to kill 10 million individuals worldwide by 2050 from antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) infections.
In a laboratory setting, the superbug data currently recorded by the Antimicrobial Use and Resistance (AURA) surveillance system focuses too narrowly on pathogens and AMR. A wider registry will help capture the true impact of AMR, including clinical patient-level data. Currently, many superbug infections are unrecorded and the cause of death could be erroneously linked to a co-existing disease in some cases.
The solution to superbugs is twofold: reducing the spread of AMR by restricting the use of antimicrobials in human and animal health and agriculture and creating new antibiotics and experimental therapies that are resistant to traditional drugs to combat disease. AMR also affects the applicability of certain patients for medical procedures, such as bone marrow and organ transplants, and the risk will escalate without immediate action. Superbugs, however, lack appropriate public health funding and understanding. By educating ourselves about its causes and implementing a more judicious use of antimicrobials in human and animal health and agriculture, we need to consider how best to incorporate plans to delay and restrict the spread of AMR.
