Global Cause
Antimicrobial Resistance 2019
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s Sponsored
How better diagnostics can support clinicians in infection control
Diagnostic testing has taken centre stage as the world attempts to control COVID-19, and this technology has the power to beat antimicrobial resistance as well. Public awareness of the need to accurately test for an infection has been heightened by COVID-19, and even more so as the northern hemisphere heads into respiratory virus season. For...
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Why clinical laboratory testing is key to fighting antibiotic resistance
Clinical laboratory experts are using innovative new tests to provide doctors with the insights they need to curb unnecessary antibiotic use. If I asked you what the solution is to the antibiotic resistance crisis, the first thing you might think of is creating new drugs that kill resistant microbes. What you might not realise, though,...
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We are seeing an emergence of antifungal resistance
It was only very recently that the World Health Organization’s global antimicrobial resistance surveillance system has considered emergence of resistance among fungal pathogens [1]. This settled lack of interest is primarily because fungal diseases are generally not transmissible among humans. Nevertheless, fungal pathogens such as Candida and Aspergillus represent a major cause of life-threatening invasive...
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Underuse of antibiotics could be a bigger problem than overuse
700,000 people around the world, who die each year through antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections, would be on the minds of many during this year’s World Antibiotic Awareness Week. AMR is a global health emergency caused by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. If we do not take action, this alarming figure could rise to as...
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Why is AMR such an important global issue?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats we face as a global community that has not yet got the attention it deserves. Antimicrobials are agents that fight diseases in humans, animals and plants and are critical tools for our significant progress in human medicine and veterinary health in the last century. However, the...
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Stewardship programs improve patient outcomes
As an infectious diseases physician, I have come to dread seeing a patient’s condition worsen – and even become life-threatening – due to an infection that would have once been simple to treat. Unfortunately, the rising tide of antibiotic resistance, coupled with insufficient research and development of new antibiotics, is making this devastating scenario more...
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s Sponsored
Combatting antimicrobial resistance: molecular diagnostics holds the key
Antibiotic resistant bacteria are one of the major threats to the global healthcare system. Some have commented that it is a more immediate threat to us than global warming. A UK independent review estimated that, unless effective action is taken, drug-resistant strains of certain bacterial infections will claim 10 million lives each year by 2050....
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Are public-private partnerships the answer to AMR?
Drug resistance has been identified by the WHO as among the biggest threats to health and development. However, few new antibiotics are being developed, with half of all treatments used today discovered during the 1950s. While drug resistance occurs naturally over time, a number of factors have increased resistance in bacteria. These include overuse and...
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Finding solutions to antibiotic overuse
Antibiotic resistance is the climate crisis of medicine — the man-made depletion of a vital medical resource due to rampant worldwide overuse. Norwegian researcher, Dag Berild, has been studying rational antibiotic use for 30 years and explains how C-reactive protein point-of-care testing, using devices is a simple step doctors can take to help curb this...
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Replacing foolish use of antimicrobials with smart management
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a fast-growing problem caused by human and animal use of antimicrobials. Optimal interventions are hampered by lack of surveillance. It was suggested that the problem of AMR originated from the use of antimicrobials in humans, but this is not necessarily the case. The antibiotic, fluoroquinolone, was approved for human use in...