According to a study published in the journal Lancet Regional Health — Southeast Asia, data recorded from 21 tertiary care centres in the Indian Council of Medical Research’s AMR Surveillance Network (IAMRSN) over six years was analysed to understand and identify the trends in anti-microbial resistance amid the ongoing health crisis.

It has brought forth a concerning discovery; in recent times, there has been a growing resistance to antibiotics in diseases. This is concerning for global health and wellness and a serious threat to attaining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 target by 2030. 

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi and ICMR conducted the study ‘Emerging trends in antimicrobial resistance in bloodstream infections: multicentric longitudinal study in India (2017-2022) and observed the threat to public health.

Addressing the Growing Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance: A Looming Health Crisis

The report centres on the basic observation that bacteria can evolve and become resistant to antibiotics and hence, alternative drugs must be developed to combat them. However, there are no such alternative drugs in circulation yet and the resistance to antibiotics is emerging at an extremely fast rate. This is what can lead to a public health crisis.

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Source: LinkedIn

“Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has escalated to pandemic levels, posing a significant global health threat. This study examines the patterns and trends of AMR in Bloodstream Infections (BSIs) across India, aiming to inform better surveillance and intervention strategies,” the study says. 

Evolved bacteria can reproduce at an alarming rate and can spread from person to person easily. This poses a problem in the growing landscape of antibiotic resistance as in highly populated and dense cities, the disease may spread at a faster rate than the measures to counter them. Hence, the claim that ‘AMR has escalated to pandemic levels.’ Overuse and overexposure of antibiotics alongside a mishandling of prescription course has all resulted in a certain kind of immunity to the effectiveness of antibiotics among the general public.

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Source: WOAH

The study approaches the issue with the same warning. AMR represents a global health crisis, it says— with an estimated 4.95 million deaths in 2019 and projecting that by 2050, this number can go up to 10 million annual deaths. It insists that low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are more vulnerable to AMR than the rest, the predisposed situation of AMR aggravated by existing high rates of infectious diseases and increased antibiotics in daily use. Especially in the post-COVID-19 world. 

In India, the study collected data from tertiary care centres, who offer specialty care the likes of chemotherapy, as opposed to primary and secondary carers, and are in closer observation with patients receiving antimicrobial treatment.

This research identified antibiotics Imipenem and Meropenem as ones that a versatile body of patients have grown most resistant to, used to treat infections caused by bacteria Klebsiella, E coli and Acinetobacter BSIs. These bacterias cause infections like pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and bloodstream infections (BSI). E coli and Klebsiella isolates have also been observed by the study to become highly resistant to Cephalosporins and Fluoroquinolones, and specifically a resistance to Carbapenems in case of Klebsiella. 

These bacterias grow resistant to treatment due to overexposure. For example, considering the hospital itself, where all the antibacterial treatment and antiseptic sterility takes place, it can result in bacteria being forced to evolve and adapt. However, key care not be denied to those that require it and there cannot be a question on the effectiveness of the methods of treatment. It is only natural that hospitals are the places that could instil survivability in bacterias. Still, it is a pressing issue.  

Without proper measures taken to battle this issue, AMR could make a significant hurdle in achieving the SDGs and potentially threaten millions of lives by 2030. India is reported to be among the worst hit, with it’s masses growing increasingly resistant to key and last resort antibiotics. 

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