The World Health Organisation (WHO) have released new surveillance data from across 52 countries that reveals high levels of antibiotic resistance in a number of serious bacterial infections.
In October 2015, WHO launched the Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System (GLASS). This was based on the experience from other WHO surveillance programs, such as TB drug resistance surveillance and HIV drug resistance surveillance.
New data collected using the GLASS has found widespread antibiotic resistance across 22 countries among 500,000 individuals with a suspected bacterial infection. Below are the most commonly reported resistant bacteria:
- Escherichia coli – resistant to ciprofloxacin
- Klebsiella pneumoniae – resistant to penicillin
- Staphylococcus aureus – resistant to methicillin and vancomycin
- Streptococcus pneumoniae – resistant to penicillin
- Salmonella spp. – resistant to fluoroquinolone
In patients with bloodstream infections, antibiotic resistance levels varied greatly between countries, from 0 up to 82%. Resistance to Penicillin ranged from 0 to 51% and resistance of E. coli relating to urinary tract infections ranged from 8 to 65%.
The Future
The WHO is encouraging all countries to set up adequate surveillance systems for detecting antibiotic drug resistance. The aim will be to provide data to the global system. Currently, 25 high-income countries, 20 middle-income countries and 7 low-income countries are contributing to the WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System. The system will standardise the data collection process between countries. This will allow for more reliable, meaningful data that can provide insight into the patterns and trends of antimicrobial resistance.
To read the full news article on WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System and how this has made a difference so far, please visit the World Health Organisation’s website.
Please visit our services page for more information on how Perfectus Biomed can support your antimicrobial product. Alternatively, please contact us.
