What is Antibiotic Resistance and How Does Rising Air Pollution Affects Recovery Rate?

Antibiotic resistance has become a global crisis and according to a latest study published in Lancet journal rising air pollution is major contributor to why there is slow health recovery.

Living in the national capital of Delhi has often been juxtaposed with living in gas chambers due to alarming levels of pollution. Almost every year, during winter or the time around Diwali, Delhi makes the headlines due to its record-breaking levels of pollution. Air pollution in general, is also on the rise globally and there is no one reason to justify it all at all. Antibiotic resistance is another global crisis that has been linked to rising air pollution. In a recent study published in the Lancet Planetary Health, antibiotic resistance increases with particulate matter (PM2.5) – made up of particles 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

According to the Lancet Study, antibiotic resistance is an increasingly global issue, causing millions of deaths worldwide every year. Particulate matter (PM)2·5 has diverse elements of antibiotic resistance that increase its spread after inhalation.

“Antibiotic resistance and air pollution are each in their own right among the greatest threats to global health. Until now, we didn’t have a clear picture of the possible links between the two, but this work suggests the benefits of controlling air pollution could be two-fold: not only will it reduce the harmful effects of poor air quality, it could also play a major role in combatting the rise and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” said lead author Hong Chen, Zhejiang University, China.

WHAT IS ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE?

The Lancet study says that the world is in an era of antibiotic resistance in which antibiotic-treatment failure and mortality caused by bacterial infections are increasing. Antibiotic resistance is a severe global issue, causing approximately 1·27 million premature deaths in 2019 worldwide, substantially exceeding the estimated 0·70 million deaths in 2016.

As the name suggests resistance to antibiotics has made it difficult for several people to receiver ailments like pneumonia, and tuberculosis.

The association between PM2.5 air pollution and an increase in antibiotic resistance has strengthened over time, with enhancement in PM2.5 levels leading to larger increases in antibiotic resistance in more recent years, the analysis found using data for 116 countries from 2000 to 2018.

HOW DOES AIR POLLUTION CAUSE ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE?

According to the findings of the Lancet study:

• Humans are exposed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes via food, the environment (eg, water, soil, and air), or direct contact with infectious sources, such as animals.
• The major air pollutant, in the form of particulate matter, has been shown to contain diverse antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes, which are transferred between environments and directly inhaled by humans, causing respiratory-tract injury and infection.
• Sources of PM2.5 include industrial processes, road transport, and domestic coal and wood burning.PM2.5 air pollution was one of the leading factors driving antibiotic resistance.
• Misuse and overuse of antibiotics still remain the main drivers of antibiotic resistance.
• Air pollution also contributes to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes, the study said.

Further, every 1 per cent rise in air pollution was linked with an increase in antibiotic resistance of between 0.5 and 1.9 per cent, depending on the pathogen, or the disease-causing microbe, the study covering nine bacterial pathogens and 43 types of antibiotics found.

HOW WILL IT IMPACT INDIA?

The highest levels of antibiotic resistance were found to be in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, while levels in Europe and North America were found to be low. Owing to their huge populations, India and China are expected to face the greatest impact of PM2.5 changes on the premature death toll from antibiotic resistance. India is expected to experience a 2.5 per cent increase in antibiotic resistance resulting from a 10 per cent increase in yearly PM2.5 levels.

By 2050, levels of antibiotic resistance worldwide could increase by 17 per cent under no changes to current air pollution policies, the authors’ modelling suggested.

In other scenarios, such as increased health spending, controlling air pollution, improving drinking water and reducing antibiotic usage, the level of antibiotic resistance could be greatly reduced, the study said. Controlling air pollution could aid in reducing antibiotic resistance, which is when disease-causing microbes are able to resist the drugs designed to kill them, according to new research published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.