700,000 DEATHS YEARLY FROM 'SUPERBUGS'

The danger posed by bacteria's growing resistance to antibiotics should be ranked along with terrorism on a list of threats to the nation, the government's chief medical officer for England has said. It as a "ticking time bomb". 

Professor Dame Sally Davies  said: "If we don't take action, then we may all be back in an almost 19th Century environment where infections kill us as a result of routine operations. We won't be able to do a lot of our cancer treatments or organ transplants."

"We haven't had a new class of antibiotics since the late 80s and there are very few antibiotics in the pipeline of the big pharmaceutical companies that develop and make drugs," she said.

Above: DRUG RESISTANT E. COLI, NEWLY ARRIVED IN AMERICA

Newly Discovered Bacteria Can Resist All Antibiotics | TIME

Drug resistant infections will kill an extra 10 million people a year worldwide - more than currently die from cancer - by 2050 unless action is taken, a study says.

They are currently implicated in 700,000 deaths each year.

The analysis, presented by the economist Jim O'Neill, said the costs of this many dead and dying would spiral to $100 TRILLION USD (£63 TRILLION).

Above: SUPERBUG  "CRE"
This 'bug', carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, is also known as the "nightmare" bacteria because of its resistance to antibiotics.

Above: Clostridium difficile.
This hard-to-treat bacteria, known as C. diff., can cause infectious diarrhea.
It's said to be a growing problem in hospitals, killing an estimated 14,000 people annually in the United States.

Above: result of Necrotizing fasciitis. Also known as the flesh-eating bacteria, this condition is rare but still kills in the United States.

Above: MRSA  stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which is a type of Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to the antibacterial activity of methicillin and other related antibiotics of the penicillin class.

MRSA infections are a particular problem in hospitals.
Caused by a bacteria commonly found on the skin or in the nose, staph infections can be deadly and some strains no longer respond to common antibiotics.
This is because Staphylococcus aureus can make a substance called ß-lactamase (pronounced beta-lactamase), that degrades penicillin, destroying its antibacterial activity.

OVER 700,000 PEOPLE WILL DIE THIS YEAR FROM BACTERIAL INFECTIONS THAT DO NOT RESPOND TO CURRENT ANTIBIOTICS.

"A tiny cut leaves you fighting for your life.
Basic treatments are ineffective. An operation proves deadly. Luck may be the only thing that saves you.

This isn't the plot of a poorly-executed science fiction novel but rather a startling new reality. A future without antibiotics, BECAUSE THEY NO LONGER WORK AGAINST SOME STRAINS OF BACTERIA.

THOSE BACTERIA ARE BEING CALLED "SUPERBUGS" AND THE MORE OFTEN ANTIBIOTICS ARE USED TO TREAT THEM, THE MORE RESISTANT THEY BECOME, GETTING STRONGER EACH TIME UNTIL, TODAY, THEY ARE IMMUNE TO ALL KNOWN ANTIBIOTICS WE HAVE TO FIGHT THEM.

In 2050, superbugs may kill 1 person every 3 seconds,

"We need to inform in different ways, all over the world, why it's crucial we stop treating our antibiotics like sweets.”

A 10-point plan for reducing antibiotic use and finding ways to curb bacterial resistance was outlined.
The ten points of the plan are to:

• Create a global public awareness campaign
• Improve hygiene and prevent infections
• Cut antimicrobial use in agriculture
• Improve global surveillance of drug resistant microbes
• Promote new, fast diagnostics to ensure proper use of antibiotics
• Promote alternative treatments to antibiotics, such as vaccines
• Support infectious disease professionals
• Establish a global fund for research on antimicrobials and resistance
• Incentivize development of new drugs
• Build a global coalition

Superbugs to kill 'more than cancer' by 2050 - BBC News

Drug resistant E. coli, malaria and tuberculosis (TB) would have the biggest impact."In Nigeria, by 2050, more than one in four deaths would be attributable to drug resistant infections, while India would see an additional two million lives lost every year."

The review team believes its analysis represents a significant underestimate of the potential impact of failing to tackle drug resistance, as it did not include the effects on healthcare of a world in which antibiotics no longer worked.
Without effective antibiotics, procedures such as joint replacements, Caesarean sections, chemotherapy and transplant surgery would become much riskier and in many cases impossible.

Mr O'Neill said his team would now be exploring what action could be taken to avert this looming crisis.
This would include looking at:

• how drug use could be changed to reduce the rise of resistance
• how to boost the development of new drugs
• the need for coherent international action concerning drug use in humans and animals

WHEN ANTIBIOTIC DRUGS DON'T WORK, WHAT WILL?

~ Bacteriophage are a group of viruses which infect and kill bacteria.
They were discovered in 1915 in the former Soviet republic of Georgia and have remained part of medical practice there.

However, research on them was largely abandoned in the West due to the success of antibiotics.

Clinical trials on bacteriophage are taking place, but the subject area has attracted some critics who say the field has not delivered.

~ Professor Chris Thomas, molecular geneticist at the University of Birmingham, argues that "hygiene appears to be responsible for the reduction in MRSA cases" and that "we need to get back to careful nursing."
He concluded: "We need to pursue every possible link, having one strategy is like having all your eggs in one basket."

Beyond the above two possibilities, adding perhaps better, truly effective vaccines that don't kill people, there is little to hope for.

WHY AREN'T PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES DOING MORE RESEARCH INTO BETTER, NEW ANTIBIOTICS?

BECAUSE THERE'S NO LONG-TERM PROFIT IN ANTIBIOTICS.

To take a drug from discovery to market is estimated to cost £700 MILLION ($1,094 BILLION USD).

Colin McKay, from the European Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, said: "It is very difficult to make economically viable models for antibiotics."

"With heart medication or anti-depressants a lot of people take them for a long time so you can make money back. An antibiotic that works is unlikely to be used for more than a couple of weeks."

He added: "A new way to promote research is needed and there is an ongoing debate into how to do it."

Health officials say other infections have now overtaken MRSA as major sources of healthcare-acquired infections.

In particular, cases of E.coli and Klebsiella bacteria have increased by two-thirds in recent years and are now the most frequent cause of hospital acquired infection.

In 1999, Sir Kenneth Calman and many others made pleas, saying the public had a responsibility not to demand antibiotics. 

Simple coughs and colds don't need antibiotic treatment, but should be allowed to run their course.

Honestly, patients, maybe especially parents of young children, who demand antibiotics for minor illnesses, or for illnesses that are viral in nature and so will not respond to antibiotics, are one of the main reasons we're in this crisis today.

We must also demand that those who raise livestock stop injecting those food animals with antibiotics as we then consume too many drugs in this way as well. 

The global loss of life, if we do NOT take these measures quickly, is staggering to contemplate.