Antibiotic resistance is ‘no longer a prediction for the future'. It is happening in every region of the world right now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

It has published a new report looking at this serious issue, which has the potential to affect people of all ages in all countries.

The discovery and development of effective antibiotics in the 1940s and 1950s meant that many serious infections such as pneumonia, meningitis and TB were no longer seen as potential killers. These drugs are also used to treat common infections, such as diarrhoea and urinary tract infections.

However, gross overuse has led to the problem of antibiotic resistance, whereby bacteria change and build up a resistance to drugs that have been used over a long period of time and in great numbers.
According to the WHO, this is a ‘major threat to public health'.

"Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries, which have been treatable for decades, can once again kill," said Dr Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general for health security.

He emphasised that antibiotics have allowed many people to live longer, healthier lives, however unless significant action is taken now, ‘the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods'. The impact of this will be ‘devastating', he insisted.

The report, Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance, focused on resistance in seven different bacteria, that are responsible for a number of diseases, including urinary tract infections, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea and sepsis (bloodstream infections).

It shows that antibiotic resistance results in people being sick for longer and increases their risk of death. It also leads to longer hospital stays and higher healthcare costs.

The report also reveals that resistance to one of the most commonly used medicines for urinary tract infections, caused by E. coli-fluoroquinolones, is extremely widespread. In fact, when these drugs were introduced in the 1980s, resistance to them was virtually nil. Today, this treatment is ineffective in over half of patients in many parts of the world.

The report also shows that in the case of life-threatening infections caused by the common intestinal bacteria, Klebsiella pneumonia, resistance to last-resort treatment has spread to all regions of the world. This bacteria is a big cause of hospital-acquired infections, such as bloodstream infections, pneumonia and infections in newborn babies.

Meanwhile, resistance to the last resort treatment for gonorrhoea has been confirmed in a number of countries, including the UK, France, South Africa, Australia and Canada.

The report suggests a number of ways to tackle this issue, including preventing infections in the first place by, for example, maintaining better hygiene, introducing better infection control in healthcare facilities and vaccination.

People are urged to help by:
-Only using antibiotics when prescribed by a doctor
-Completing the dose, even if they feel better
-Never sharing antibiotics with others

Healthcare professionals are urged to:
-Improve infection prevention and control procedures
-Only prescribe antibiotics when needed, i.e. never for a viral illness

The report used data from 114 countries.