Alarming rates of antibiotic resistance observed in a new CDDEP report

Soaring incomes in developing nations mean more people can afford medical facilities, but a new study has found that this is also helping swell resistance to antibiotics. Misuse and overuse of antibiotic drugs has already created a huge challenge in developed parts of the world, and now low and middle income countries are catching up.

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Researchers have mapped dangerous trends in antibiotic resistance on a global scale for the first time. Online mapping tool and new report by Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), shows a perilous rise in drug-resistant infections and use of antibiotics.

Researchers at CDDEP, a health think tank based in New Delhi and Washington DC, have released new data documenting alarming rates of bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics that can lead to life-altering infections across the world. Though wealthy countries still use far more antibiotics per capita, high rates in the low and middle-income countries like India, Kenya and Vietnam sounds a warning to the world. In India, 57 per cent of the infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae, a dangerous superbug found in hospitals, were found to be more than 60 percent resistant in India.

According to data, Klebsiella pneumonia’s resistance to carbapenems, an antibiotic of last resort, was 57 percent in 2014 compared to just 29 per cent in 2008.

The findings were released through CDDEP’s Resistance Map, an interactive online tool that allows users to track the latest global trends in drug resistance in 39 countries, and antibiotic use in 69 countries. It includes infections caused by 12 potentially fatal bacteria, including Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Resistance to other antibiotics in bacteria like E. coli is high, in some cases over 80 percent. 

CDDEP also issues a first of its kind report that looked extensively at the current state of global antibiotic use and drug resistance in humans, livestock and the environment. The biggest surprise was the quantity of use of antibiotics in the animal sector—about 64,000 tons, which is expected to go to about 105,000 tons by 2030. 

“A rampant rise in antibiotic use poses a major threat to public health, especially when there’s no oversight on appropriate prescribing,” said Laxminarayan. “Antibiotic use drives antibiotic resistance.”

“Humankind will need to focus 80% of our global resources “on stewardship and no more than 20% on drug development”, he added.

Authors say antibiotic stewardship is the key action to be taken, and they challenge the frequently perceived notion that the problem with antibiotic resistance is a lack of new drugs in the antibiotic pipeline. CDDEP doesn’t believe inventing new antibiotics alone can help. They’re expensive and they only perpetuate the cycle of bacteria developing resistance to every new drug. Rather, hospitals, public health officials, and doctors have to save the effective antibiotics for when they’re really needed. Instead of being the primary treatment for mild issues like coughs, colds, and basic diarrhea, antibiotics must be treated as precious life-saving medicines, to be used rationally under medical supervision when needed.