Scientists from the University of Sydney (USYD) have discovered that many antibiotics long used to treat common childhood infections are no longer effective due to the spread of resistant bacteria. The results of the research were published in the journal Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia.
Researchers analyzed 86 studies containing antibiotic susceptibility data for more than 6,600 bacterial species from 11 countries. They found that many antibiotics recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) were less than 50% effective in treating childhood infections: pneumonia, sepsis (bloodstream infection), and meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain). Therefore, the antibiotic ceftriaxone will be effective in only one-third of cases of sepsis or meningitis in newborns, and gentamicin in less than half of the cases.
WHO considers antimicrobial resistance to be one of the top 10 global public health threats. The latest WHO global antibiotic guidelines were published in 2013. The authors of the new study say the guidelines need to be updated to take into account new information and that more efforts are needed to develop new antibiotics.
Southeast Asian and Pacific countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines have been hardest hit, with thousands of child deaths due to antibiotic-resistant infections. Each year, approximately three million newborns worldwide develop sepsis, and 570 thousand of them do not survive.
“We are not immune to this problem; the burden of antimicrobial resistance is already on our doorstep. Antibiotic resistance is increasing faster than we think,” lead author Dr. Phoebe Williams, of the University of Sydney, said in a press release. “We need new solutions,” he said.
Previous scientists to create The new danger of salty foods.