WHO: Alert Launched over Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Recent research has pointed towards the existence of a growing number of bacteria which become resistant to drugs, rendering the patient infected with these germs virtually untreatable, because with the current aitibiotics ineffective, there are no alrernative options for therapy.

Photo: WHO: Alert Launched over Drug-Resistant Bacteria

The alert by the UNO’s World Health Organization was issued early this week after research was published in the medical journal The Lancet earlier in the month, identifying a new gene that enables several types of bacteria to become multiresistant, making almost all antibiotics ineffective.

In response, the WHO issued the following statement: “Some bacteria have developed mechanisms which render them resistant to many of the antibiotics normally used for their treatment, so pose particular difficulties, as there may be few or no alternative options for therapy” and urged Governments to implement infection control procedures.

Of crucial importance is that all players in the healthcare structures should be aware of the problem, including “consumers, prescribers and dispensers, veterinarians, hospitals managers and diagnostic laboratories, patients and visitors to health-care facilities, as well as national governments, the pharmaceutical industry, professional societies, and international agencies”.

For the World Health Organization, the latest revelation requires “monitoring and further study to understand the extent and modes of transmission, and to define the most effective measures for control”.

The four main areas of action targeted by the Who are:

1. Surveillance for antimicrobial resistance;

2. Rational antibiotic use, including education of health-care workers and the public in the appropriate use of antibiotics;

3. Introducing or enforcing laws related to the selling of antibiotics without prescription;

4. Adherence to infection prevention and control measures, including the use of hand-washing measures, particularly in health-care facilities.

Source: UNO

Timofei BELOV

PRAVDA.Ru