http://www.hstoday.us/single-article/who-says-antibiotic-resistance-is-serious-worldwide-threat-to-public-health/eb5821bc088133ab0e17de92f0d699f5.html
*WHO Says Antibiotic Resistance is Serious, Worldwide Threat to Public Health* By: Kylie Bull, Managing Editor 06/17/2014 ( 8:30am) [image: Bookmark and Share] <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a8ac57416db70f7> Are we heading for a post-antibiotic era, where everyday infections become killers? The World Health Organization (WHO) thinks we are, and a new report provides the most comprehensive picture of antibiotic resistance to date, with data from 114 countries. The WHO report takes a detailed, global look at antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including antibiotic resistance, and reveals that this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future, it is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country. Antibiotic resistance -- when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections -- is now a major threat to public health. Antibiotic resistance causes people to be sick longer and increases the risk of death. For example, people with MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are estimated to be 64 percent more likely to die than people with a non-resistant form of the infection. “Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security. “Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier and benefit from modern medicine. Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.” The WHO report, *Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance*, noted that resistance is occurring across many different infectious agents, but it focuses on antibiotic resistance in seven different bacteria responsible for common, serious diseases such as bloodstream infections (sepsis), diarrhea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhea. The results are cause for high concern, documenting resistance to antibiotics, especially “last resort” antibiotics, in all regions of the world. Resistance to one of the most widely used antibacterial medicines for the treatment of urinary tract infections caused by E. coli is very widespread. In the 1980s, when these drugs were first introduced, resistance was virtually zero. Today, there are countries in many parts of the world where this treatment is now ineffective in more than half of patients. Treatment failure to the last resort of treatment for gonorrhea (third generation cephalosporins) has been confirmed in Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. More than 1 million people are infected with gonorrhea around the world every day, making it a ticking time bomb. The report also includes information on resistance to medicines for treating other infections such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and influenza. It reveals that key tools to tackle antibiotic resistance -- such as basic systems to track and monitor the problem -- show gaps or do not exist in many countries. Other important actions include preventing infections from happening in the first place through better hygiene, access to clean water, infection control in healthcare facilities and vaccination to reduce the need for antibiotics. WHO is also calling attention to the need to develop new diagnostics, antibiotics and other tools to allow healthcare professionals to stay ahead of emerging resistance. The report stated that although most countries in the European Union have well-established national and international systems for tracking antibiotic resistance, countries in other parts of the region urgently need to strengthen or establish such systems. WHO’s Regional Office for Europe and its partners are supporting these countries through the newly-established Central Asian and Eastern European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance network (CAESAR). The aim of CAESAR is to set up a network of national systems to monitor antibiotic resistance in all countries of the WHO European Region for standardized data collection so that information is comparable. According to research led by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, antibiotic use in food animal production plays a significant role in the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In the United States, 80 percent of antibiotics sold are used in food animal production. Despite decades of scientific evidence linking such use to antibiotic resistance though, little has been done to reduce the use of antibiotics in US animal agriculture. While the European Union maintains tougher standards, current inconsistencies are cause for great concern during Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) negotiations. The T-TIP aims to harmonize regulations between the two markets and remove non-tariff barriers to trade. Experts suggest, if not properly addressed, the negotiations could lower European Union antibiotic use standards simply to facilitate trade with the US -- putting both sides of the Atlantic at risk. A joint expert consultation in 2003 by WHO, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization / and World Organization for Animal Health concluded that there is clear evidence of the link between use of antibiotics in food producing animals and antimicrobial resistance. Glenn Thomas, media spokesperson for WHO, told *Homeland Security Today* that the organization has been involved for more than 15 years in the area of AMR originating from the food chain, and recommends prudent use of antibiotics in food producing animals, with a special emphasis on critically important antimicrobials for human health (fluoroquinolones, 3rd and 4th cephalosporins and macrolides) and a ban on the use of antimicrobials as growth promoters. “Alternatives exist,” Fukuda said, “but WHO puts emphasis on the reduction of the need for antibiotics through improved infection control (biosecurity, good animal husbandry, vaccination, probiotics, etc.)." If today’s society is becoming resistant to current antibiotics, isn’t the solution to simply create new ones? Thomas said this poses a number of problems. “It is difficult to find and develop a single ‘magic bullet’ that will be effective against all types of resistance in all bacteria causing diseases,” he said. “Bacterial evolution will make any new antibiotic lose effect after some time due to development of resistance, so there will be no permanent long-lasting solution. Thus prevention is crucial and other new treatment options need to be explored.” It is scientifically difficult to identify new targets to attack the bacteria – and time-consuming. “A normal timeline from discovering a new molecule until a medicine has been developed and can be prescribed, is usually about 10 years. Under some ‘burning’ conditions, and for short treatments of life-threatening diseases (as would be the case for special antibiotics), maybe it can be somewhat shortened,” Thomas said. It is also, of course, an expensive process, and drugs companies and their shareholders may prefer that time and money is spent discovering and producing more lucrative products. Antibacterial resistance is everywhere, and can affect anyone at any age in any place. “It is true that some countries/regions which have focused on the containment of AMR for many years seem to have lower proportions of resistance in some of the investigated bacteria, and it is important that experiences from these regions are shared and adapted to be implemented elsewhere,” Thomas said. WHO is supporting information sharing by developing tools and providing guidance. Many areas of the world have established networks to record and monitor AMR and develop solutions. In Latin America, the United States and Canada there is a surveillance network called ReLAVRA, which has been operating for several years. Collaboration with English-speaking areas of the Caribbean is currently in progress. Another Pan-American network called SIREVA is carrying out surveillance on bacteria causing meningitis. While heads of state focus their attentions on counter terrorism strategies, it is absolutely vital that the public health threats to security, such as the very real problem of antibiotic resistance, are not allowed to creep through the back door. __._,_.___ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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