The world is on the verge of a crisis caused by the resistance of microbes to antibiotics
Last reviewed: 29.11.2021
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The world is on the verge of a crisis caused by the resistance of microbes to antibiotics, Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization, said at a conference in Copenhagen on Friday.
Mankind, according to Chen, deals with such a level of antibiotic resistance that this situation can mean "the end of medicine as we know it." We are entering a "post-antibiotic era," Chen said. Every antibiotic developed at any time can become useless at any time.
According to Chen, doctors are deprived of the so-called "first-line antibiotics." As a result, manipulations, formerly routine, are simply impossible. This applies equally to the treatment of infections such as tuberculosis or malaria, and banal surgical treatment of cuts.
Drugs that replace antibiotics that have lost their activity are becoming more expensive, and in order to achieve the same effect, more and longer courses of treatment are needed. "Such common things as a sore throat or a scratch on the knee and the child will again become deadly," Chen said. The mortality of patients infected with antibiotic-resistant strains of microorganisms in some cases is increased by 50 percent. In this case, the use of less common antibiotics often requires hospitalization, is associated with a toxic effect on the patient's body and is always more expensive.
The conditions for this crisis, noted the head of WHO, have been formed for decades. The main reasons for it is the incorrect use of antibacterial drugs that are chosen incorrectly, taken too often or too long.
WHO calls on governments around the world to support studies of antibiotic resistance. "The lack of funds in the arsenal of doctors requires innovation," the report said.