The growing prevalence of bacteria that are resistant to some, most, or even all, antibiotics poses a significant threat to human health. The introduction of penicillin in the 1940s, and numerous antibiotics that followed it, have had a dramatic impact on public health. Many bacterial infections that had high mortality and morbidity rates became routinely curable. Now, the emergence of untreatable infections is changing this. In the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated two million people become infected by a resistant bacterium of some form, and at least 23,000 of these will die as a direct result of the infection.
CDC gives the highest rating, of ‘urgent threat’, to three bacteria: Clostridium difficile, carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. C. difficile is by far the biggest killer – with almost half a million infections and 15,000 deaths directly attributable to the infection per annum, resulting in US$1bn in excess medical costs every year. Of these, more than 100,000 of those infected were nursing home residents, and at least 80% of the deaths were in those over 65. It is the most common microbial cause of healthcare-associated infections in US hospitals.
C difficile is the most common microbial cause of healthcare-associated infections in US hospitals
The incidence of the second on the danger list, carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, is also increasing in medical facilities, with strains of klebsiella and E. coli a particular problem. Of the 9,000 who contract one of these bacteria, 600 will die, and if it leads to sepsis, this will prove fatal in nearly half of all cases. These bacteria are resistant to almost all of the existing antibiotics.
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