Some bloodstream infection bacteria grew resistant to last-resort drugs in 2020 – WHO

LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – The first year of the coronavirus pandemic saw an increase in drug resistance in bacteria that cause bloodstream infections, even against antibiotics of last resort, a report from the World Health Organization based on data from 87 countries in 2020.

The overuse or misuse of antibiotics has helped make microbes resistant to many treatments, while the pipeline of replacement therapies in development is alarmingly thin.

High levels (more than 50%) of resistance have been reported in bacteria that typically cause life-threatening bloodstream infections in hospitals, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp, the report authors noted Friday.

These infections often require treatment with “last resort” antibiotics, drugs used when all other antibiotics fail.

About 8% of bloodstream infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae became resistant to a vital group of drugs of last resort called carbapenems, according to the report.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rates remain very high, but antibiotics of last resort are only beginning to lose potency, said Dr. Carmem Pessoa-Silva, director of the Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System. WHO Antimicrobial Resistance, at a press conference.

The message of hope, he said, is that “we have a very narrow window of opportunity … to respond to the threat.”

While there is a concerted push to limit the rampant use of antibiotics, the pace of new research remains daunting.

The effort, cost, and time it takes to get an antibiotic approved and the limited return on investment have deterred drugmakers, as treatments must be economically priced and designed to be used as little as possible to limit drug resistance.

As a result, most antibiotic development takes place in a handful of small biopharmaceutical labs, as most of their larger counterparts target more lucrative markets.

Only a few big pharmaceutical companies remain in the space, including GSK. (GSK.L) and Merck (MRK.N) — below more than 20 in the 1980s.

a reference point overall analysis published earlier this year found that 1.2 million people died in 2019 due to antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, making AMR one of the leading causes of death worldwide, higher than HIV. /AIDS or malaria.

“Political commitment (on AMR) must now urgently move from aspiration to action,” said Thomas Cueni, director general of the International Association of Pharmaceutical Associations and Manufacturers.

The authors of the WHO report said more research is needed to identify the reasons behind the jump in AMR over the period studied, and to what extent it is related to the accelerated use of antibiotics during the pandemic.

AMR rates also remain difficult to interpret due to insufficient testing and weak laboratory capacity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, the authors wrote.

Reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Edited by Barbara Lewis and Arun Koyyur

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