Global Cause
AMR & Infectious Diseases 2024
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Strategies to prevent AMR escalation and reverting to pre-penicillin times
The evolution of superbugs runs the risk of bringing medicine back by a hundred years. What can be done to prevent this? In 1941, police officer Albert Alexander was injured in a bombing raid. His wounds rapidly became infected, and he lost an eye. Dying, with his head covered in abscesses, doctors treated him with...
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Paying the price to rid the world of tuberculosis
More than a million people die each year from tuberculosis (TB), a disease that many think belongs in the past. The key to fighting it is better funding, say experts. Tuberculosis remains the deadliest infectious disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is known as the ‘orphan’ disease because it has less visibility...
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Get to know the carbapenem-resistant superbugs brewing in hospital wastewater
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is rising, and carbapenem-resistant superbugs are becoming more lethal than methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), despite carbapenems being a last-resort treatment. Widespread use and misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals over the last few decades has created a Darwinian pressure on bacteria, selecting only the most resistant bacteria to survive. This...
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Undervalued and essential: how vaccines could turn the tide against AMR
While antimicrobial resistance (AMR) action plans typically emphasise antibiotics and hygiene, a critical solution remains underutilised: immunisation. Vaccines prevent infections before they start, reducing the need for antibiotics and slowing the spread of resistance. Yet, only 13% of national antimicrobial resistance (AMR) plans currently incorporate immunisation as a key intervention.1 The UK’s Role in AMR...
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Specialist pharmaceutical consultancy paves the way for smarter antibiotic development
Antibiotic development has become unattractive to many large pharmaceutical companies, leaving academics and smaller entrepreneurial companies to drive research and development. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a significant and global threat to public health, making infections harder to treat, increasing disease spread and resulting in poor patient outcomes. Rienk Pypstra, Chief Medical Officer and Head of...
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Why IV antibiotic underdosing is a critical issue in patient care
Underdosing IV antibiotics is a growing healthcare concern, impacting clinical outcomes, financial and operational efficiency and the environment. Underdosing occurs as residual IV antibiotic fluid remains in the tubing of administration sets (drip) at the end of the infusion. In the absence of flushing the line, patients can miss out on between 20%–40% of the...
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Why addressing parasitic disease issues will also help to combat AMR
Parasitic diseases are caused by infectious agents, which maintain a parasitic relationship in which ‘one organism benefits at the expense of the other.’ Parasitic diseases include a broad spectrum of agents, such as worms (eg. ascaris), protozoans (eg. malaria, babesia) and arthropods (eg. mosquitoes, ticks). They directly cause diseases in a host or act as...
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Making ‘Zero Malaria’ possible with science and innovation
We can end malaria in our lifetimes. This ancient disease still kills hundreds of thousands of children yearly, despite being preventable. It’s worth repeating this as it’s easy to forget amidst the perfect storm of threats we face from climate change to insecticide resistance and funding shortfalls. But thanks to great leaps in scientific understanding, we...
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Rapid UTI diagnostics platform helps flight global misuse of antibiotics
Medical device company showcases groundbreaking multipurpose diagnostic platform, which enables the rapid detection of both urinary tract infection (UTI) and antibiotic sensitivity, helping to combat catastrophic levels of antimicrobial resistance. The rise of antimicrobial-resistant superbugs is a quiet but mounting threat fueled by antibiotic misuse, resulting in bacteria that withstand current treatments. Timely diagnostic innovations...
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How unreliable UTI testing methods put women at risk — and drive AMR
The blind spots of current diagnostics for urinary tract infections leave much room to improve antimicrobial stewardship and women’s health. It’s time for innovation and change. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are extremely common, and most women will experience at least one in their life. If left untreated, they can progress to serious kidney infections and...