2020-03-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

medicines,withthestrongestcapable

ofsurviving.Thisismorelikelytohap-

penifthetreatmentisunnecessary,

tooshortortoolong,attooweaka

dose,ornottargetedata specificbug.

Resistancemeansthatdoctorshave

touseevermorepotentantibioticsto

combatsomeinfections.Somelast-

lineantibiotics– treatmentsoflast

resort–arebeginningtofail.Bac-

teriathatarenowresistanttomany

antibioticsincludethosethatcause

pneumonia,meningitis,urinarytract

infections(UTIs),gonorrhoea,surgi-

calsiteinfectionslikemethicillin-re-

sistantStaphylococcusaureus(MRSA),

diarrhoea,bloodstreaminfections

suchassepsis,malaria,skininfections

includingimpetigo,andTB.

Newantibioticsaren’tbeingdevel-

opedfastenoughtokeeppacewith

resistance.“Alotofbigpharmaceuti-

calcompanieshavewithdrawnfrom

antibioticdevelopment,becauseitis

highrisk,”explainsDrBrown.“Itcosts

between$500millionand$1billion

totakea drugtomarketandgetreg-

ulatoryapprovalforit tobeused.The

falloutrateishigh– onlyaboutonein

25 drugsactuallymakeittomarket.

Inthatsituationthedrugcompanies

nevergetanyreimbursementforthe

moneytheyputin.”Addtothatthe

factthatantibioticshavetobeusedas

sparinglyaspossibletodelayresist-

ance,andit’sclearthere’sscantin-

centivefordrugcompaniestoinvest

innewones.

Promising new antibiotics in the

wouldspreadandcouldnolongerbe
treated.”Onerecentlandmarkreport
estimatedthatwithouturgentaction,
antimicrobialresistancewouldkillten
millionpeoplea yearby 2050 – more
thanwilldiefromcancer,accordingto
theWHO.
Currently,atleast700,000peo-
pleworldwidedieeachyeardueto
drug-resistantdiseases,including
230,000peoplewhodiefrommulti-
drug-resistanttuberculosis,accord-
ingtotheWHO.“Antibioticresist-
anceisnota futurethreat,”pointsout
AndreasSandgren,deputyheadof
ReActEurope,anindependentorgan-
isationthaturgesactiononantibiotic
resistance.“Itisprofoundlyaffecting
usandcausingmanydeathsnow.”
“Weneedtoprotecttheantibiot-
icswe’vegotbyreducingexposureto
themasmuchaspossibleanddevelop
newagentstoreplacetheoneswe’ve
got,”saysmedicalmicrobiologist
DrNicholasBrown,headofAntibi-
oticAction,a globalinitiativetoraise
awarenessofdrugresistance.

HOWDIDWEGETHERE?“Resist-

anceisinevitableandis anatu-

ralphenomenonthathasalways

occurredfollowingexposuretoan-

tibiotics,”saysDrBrown.“Themore

weuseantibiotics,themoreresistance

willemergeandthelesseffectivethey

become.”

Bacteria,ratherthanpeople,be-

comeresistanttoantibiotics.The

germsmutateinresponse to these

READER’S DIGEST

52 March 2020