Study: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics increases the risk of fatalities

2024-10-05 20:00:00, Shëndeti CNA

Resistance of many pathogens to antibiotics could cause more than 39 million deaths worldwide by 2050. In another 169 million deaths such pathogens may play at least a role. The study of a team of researchers led by Christopher Murray from the University of Washington in Seattle reached this result.

The study used 520 million data sets to describe the development of antibiotic resistance in the period from 1990 to 2021 in a computer model. On this basis, a forecast for the coming years was created, which is presented in the prestigious medical journal "The Lancet". Being able to assess future developments is essential for countermeasures, which save lives, said Mohsen Naghavi from the University of Washington, one of the study's lead authors.

The elderly, especially at risk

However, the development is very different depending on the age groups. While the number of resistance-related deaths among children under the age of five was reduced by 50 percent, among people aged 70 and older it increased by 80 percent.

Study: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics increases the risk of fatalities

Researchers link the increase in cases among the elderly to the lower effectiveness or intolerance to vaccines and medicines in the elderly, as well as to the greater number of diseases in this age group. Because the over-64 population group will grow in the coming years, resistance-related deaths overall may also increase by 2050, according to the model.

Excessive use of medicines

Experts have been warning for a long time about the increase in the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. An important reason for this is the wrong or excessive use of medicines. Antibiotics only help against bacteria. For viral infections, which most colds are a part of, they are ineffective, but are still often recommended. However, each use can lead to the increase of resistant bacteria.

How big the problem with resistance is, is not so easy to determine, because for example, if complications arise from multiresistant microbes during cancer treatment, the cause of the patient's death is usually attributed to the cancer anyway./ DW