New drugs urgently needed to fight deadly superbugs
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a list of the 12 antibiotic-resistant superbugs that will pose the greatest threat to human health in coming years.
The health agency’s list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” includes a strain of bacteria that’s already well-established in Australian hospitals and aged care facilities, that has the potential to kill up to half the people it infects.
The bacteria in question, Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteria (CRE), was discovered in patients at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s hospital last year and has been known to cause pneumonia as well as bloodstream, urinary and wound infections.
The WHO is calling on governments to direct more funding and research into this pressing issue, that reportedly has the potential to kill 10 million people a year by 2050.
WHO's assistant director-general for health systems and innovation, Marie-Paule Kieny, told ABC News, “Antibiotic resistance is growing, and we are fast running out of treatment option. If we leave it to market forces alone, the new antibiotics we most urgently need are not going to be developed in time.”
The WHO's most threatening bacteria:
Priority 1: Critical
1. Acinetobacter baumannii, carbapenem-resistant
2. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant
3. Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem-resistant, ESBL-producing
Priority 2: High
4. Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant
5. Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-intermediate and resistant
6. Helicobacter pylori, clarithromycin-resistant
7. Campylobacter spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant
8. Salmonellae, fluoroquinolone-resistant
9. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, cephalosporin-resistant, fluoroquinolone-resistant
Priority 3: Medium
10. Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-non-susceptible
11. Haemophilus influenzae, ampicillin-resistant
12. Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant
Source: Fairfax Media
Related links:
The science behind brain freezes
5 natural ways to manage heart disease
The new way to figure out if you’re drinking enough water