Drug-resistant superbugs feared to claim millions of lives

A former chief medical officer for England has warned the world of a growing antibiotic emergency in the coming years that could claim millions of lives and have drastic effects on people around the world.

AMR mortality rates are estimated to double by 2025 with nearly 40 million people dying from superbugs in the next 25 years. The elderly will be at greater risk, The Guardian was mentioned.

According to Dame Sally Davies, routine procedures such as surgery and childbirth could pose a real risk and carry widespread fatal risks due to the spread of bacteria with antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The United Nations Environment Program explains that, “AMR occurs when microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi, become resistant to antimicrobial treatments to which they were previously susceptible. The more microbes are exposed to pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics, the more they will probably adapt to them.”

“About a million people die each year because of the spread of antimicrobial resistance, and this number will increase over the next 25 years,” Davies told the Observer and added that “it’s really scary.”

As people get older, they tend to live with chronic illnesses, and that makes them vulnerable to AMR, the researchers say.

Doctors tried to limit prescribing antibiotics to patients as much as possible, while patients were pressured to complete their treatments.

However, medical misuse of antibiotics is not the only way resistance arises. It comes from the fact that about 70% of all antibiotics are administered to animals, causing resistance to develop in animals.

“We’re essentially throwing antibiotics at cows, chickens and sheep as cheap alternatives to giving them growth factors or prophylactics to prevent the spread of disease,” Davies said.

“Bacteria take about 20 minutes to multiply. They also mutate greatly, and if they do so in the presence of antibiotics and that mutation protects them, these strains will multiply. It’s very important that they can pass it on to any bacteria they come in contact with,” he added.

AMR spreads easily and it is becoming increasingly vital and trivial not to abuse the antibiotics we have. Davies said it brings to the fore the need for new antibiotics to be developed, and again this raises problems.