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Why does it matter?
All sorts of things make us sick, like bacteria (pneumonia, meningitis), fungi (athlete’s foot) and viruses (most coughs, colds, flu and .. COVID-19, heard of that!?).
Antibiotics are needed for some bacteria but have no effect on viruses and fungi. Tonsillitis is not helped by antibiotics, for example – as many are due to viruses. And bacterial ones will get better of their own accord, with the help of the immune system. Worse still, antibiotics have side effects and overuse can lead to antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bugs like bacteria change in response to the use of antibiotics and the micro-organisms (not humans or animals) become antibiotic-resistant. That means the organisms are not killed and continue to reproduce.
Antibiotic resistance poses a major threat to human health around the world. It is also called antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Antibiotic resistance can affect anyone, of any age, in any country. It occurs naturally, but overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is accelerating the process. AMR resistance leads to longer hospital stays, higher costs and increased mortality.
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What does this research show?
Antibiotic resistance caused over 1.2 million deaths in 2019 – recent Lancet paper shows
The largest study of the issue to date was published recently in The Lancet, by a team from the University of Washington (USA). They found 1.27 million people died worldwide in 2019 from infections caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics. By comparison, in the same year, AIDS caused 860,000 deaths and malaria 640,000.
This estimate of global deaths from AMR was based on an analysis of 204 countries. Most of the deaths were caused by respiratory infections, such as pneumonia, and bloodstream infections, leading to sepsis.
Developing countries were worst affected, but antimicrobial resistance poses a threat to everyone’s health. Deaths from AMR were highest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, at 24 deaths in every 100,000, and lowest in high-income countries, at 13 in every 100,000. Young children were at most risk, with about one in five deaths linked to AMR being among the under-fives.
The six commonest bacteria associated with resistance were: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. One bacterium-antibiotic combination, meticillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA), caused more than 100,000 AMR deaths in 2019.
“Hey myHSN, why are bacteria written in italics? Dunno, sorry. Bit weird eh”
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How does it affect you?
This is important because these bacteria (including MRSA) are common in the UK, where antibiotic resistance is already an issue – much like the rest of the world.
The Lancet study showed that AMR is a leading cause of death around the world, and the overuse of antibiotics in recent years for trivial infections means they are becoming less effective against serious infections.
So, if you don’t need antibiotics, don’t ask for them ‘just to be on the safe side’. Why? They won’t help you get better, and using them unnecessarily can reduce their efficacy for you (and other people) if you really do need them in the future.
UK health officials recently warned that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was a ‘hidden pandemic’ that could emerge in the wake of COVID-19 unless antibiotics were prescribed responsibly.
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What can I do to help myself?
A lot, actually.
According to the World Health Organisation, “The world urgently needs to change the way it prescribes and uses antibiotics. Behaviour changes must also include actions to reduce the spread of infections through vaccination, hand washing, practising safer sex, and good food hygiene.” These are all things we can do, in addition to using antibiotics more wisely.
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So what’s the take-home message?
Do not have antibiotics unless you need them!
Other resources
You can read The Lancet paper in full here. And check out this humorous video about antibiotic use made by one of our team.
MyHSN has a related article.
What is antibiotic resistance?
As always, best wishes from myHSN
