Supermicrobes: who is to blame and what to do?
How many people are killed by "superbugs" and how to protect yourself from them
Sergey Nikolaev, MedNovosti
What are superbugs?
"Superbugs" are microorganisms that have been able to develop resistance to antimicrobial drugs. In the last two decades, they have become one of the main causes of concern for the medical community. The problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming global. Microbes, like all living things, evolve, acquire new "abilities" and adapt to a changing environment. Because of this, the effectiveness of existing antibiotics is exhausted, and the development of new ones takes a lot of time and is very expensive.
How exactly do infections resist antibiotics?
There are many ways for microorganisms to resist drugs. But one of the main problems is the production of metallo–beta-lactamase. This enzyme is able to break down various antimicrobial drugs. It protects microorganisms from several classes of antibiotics at once, including penicillins, cephalosporins and carbapenems. The most important thing is that the gene responsible for the production of this enzyme can be transmitted to other types of microorganisms due to horizontal gene transfer. In other words, microbes can share this "skill" with each other, even if they are "not related."
How do microorganisms with AMR appear?
Superbugs are born in the "struggle for life", when faced with aggressive environments, especially if a person himself gives them such an opportunity. The main reasons for the appearance of bacteria with AMR are:
- uncontrolled use of antimicrobials without a doctor's prescription;
- premature termination of treatment of infectious diseases, for example, due to a shortage of drugs (this is how multi-resistant forms of tuberculosis appeared in Russian prisons);
- irrational use of antimicrobials, including in the food industry and agriculture (especially in animal husbandry).
How dangerous are such infections?
Microorganisms with AMR cause intractable diseases and provoke dangerous conditions, including necrotizing pneumonia, sepsis and severe necrosis. Every year, about 700 thousand people around the world die due to diseases caused by bacteria with antimicrobial resistance. Of these, 22 thousand people are in European countries. And according to the forecasts of infectious disease specialists, by 2050 this figure may increase to 10 million people.
According to WHO, among the most common resistant bacteria are:
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
- Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (Enterococcus faecium).
- E. coli (Escherichia coli), resistant to cephalosporins of the 3rd generation.
- Klebsiella pneumonia (Klebsiella pneumoniae), resistant to cephalosporins of the 3rd generation.
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa, resistant to carbapenems.
Is there any way to cure these infections?
With great difficulty and not always. Common antibiotics have to be replaced with new and very expensive drugs or, on the contrary, old but unsafe potent drugs that have much more side effects. For example, the old and half-forgotten antibiotic chloramphenicol in developed countries: its use is associated with severe side reactions, and it itself can be dangerous to health, but due to the spread of resistant infections, the use of this drug is again being considered by specialists. However, there is information about bacteria resistant to chloramphenicol.
How can we prevent the appearance of microorganisms with AMR?
This problem can be solved only by systematic measures taken at the international level. Programs to counter the spread of resistant infections have been in place in Europe and the United States for many years, and the World Health Organization published a global strategy to contain these infections back in 2001. This week, a similar document was finally adopted in Russia: "Strategy for preventing the spread of antimicrobial resistance in the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030".
And until 2030 comes, what can I do to protect myself?
The main way to protect, in addition to the usual hygiene rules, is not to grow resistant bacteria in your body: use antibiotics only as prescribed by a doctor and always complete the prescribed course, regardless of whether the symptoms of the disease have disappeared or not.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru