R&D INSIGHT LEAD STORY
The World Health Organisation recently published a global report on antimicrobial resistance, the first of its kind. The publication confirms that resistance against antibiotics is a serious threat to global public health
C 10
arl Eric Nord, senior professor at the Institution for Laboratory Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, is
among those voicing the need for further prevention of
antimicrobial resistance.
Nord was a partner in the EU-funded project ANTIRESDEV, which focused on the emergence and persistence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their effect on the composition of the microbe populations living in our intestine. The project resulted in the development of three DNA biochips for rapidly screening resistant genes in disease-causing bacteria. The antibiotic-resistant bacterium
Clostridium difficile, covered in the ANTIRESDEV project, was not among the seven bacteria covered in the latest report from the World Health Organisation. Nord explains: “WHO is an international body and looks at the very poor developing countries as well as at the developed
countries. Clostridium difficile is a problem for the rich countries. It is a kind of side effect of antibiotic treatment in compromised patients. These patients are mostly elderly, rather sick and often have other diseases. When you treat them with an antibiotic which changes the intestinal microflora, then colonisation with Clostridium difficile can result in a serious infection.” Nord also outlined his advice on how
antibiotic resistance can be mitigated or prevented.
“Hygiene is the most
important action to prevent infections,” he says. “Special hand hygiene procedures are the most important. Also; antimicrobial agents used for cleaning and treatment of infections have to be used in the correct way.” The WHO has called for coordinated
action as a result of the report to minimise the spread of antimicrobial resistance. However, there is a problem in many
countries that effective infection control is no longer in place. Nord explains: “In Scandinavian countries, which are small, we have few patients with complicated infections. However, we have many tourists travelling from Sweden to other countries, especially Asia. They will be colonised with resistant bacteria when they are there. Although they will not develop infections themselves, they can spread it when they come back.” To increase prevention, the rapid
screening biochips created by the ANTIRESDEV project could be introduced in clinics if certain barriers are overcome, such as cost. “One of the problems in laboratory medicine nowadays is economy,” Nord says. “You can do it from the scientific point of view. That is not a problem. But in general the prices for molecular biological tests are still high.” The WHO report will be critical in raising awareness of this issue.
Insight Publishers | Projects
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112