Faced with the current overconsumption of antibiotics in humans, some bacteria evolve, become very formidable and resist conventional treatments.
Antibiotics everywhere
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), with this phenomenon of multi-resistance of bacteria, the world is heading for a “post-antibiotic era, in which common infections can start killing again” if nothing is done to stem this trend.
In recent years, however, the health authorities have reduced theuse of antibiotics to avoid the appearance of new resistance. But with the presence of antibiotics in consumer foods, these measures remain in vain. Sales of antibiotics used for farm animals have increased 23% in the past six years in the United States, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Laboratories are abandoning research on antimicrobial resistance
Many large pharmaceutical companies have abandoned this field of research, in favor of more lucrative branches such as diabetesor cancer. Indeed, the prices of drugs used for these diseases are much higher than those of antibiotics, even if thanks to the reputation of everyday consumer goods of the latter, they sell in large quantities. The result, however, remains the same: no new class of antibiotic has not been released for 30 years.
Also, the lack of funding hinders the realization of large-scale studies, as required in many countries to approve a new drug. And all the more so for antibiotics because the development model of this class of drugs is not suited to small patient populations.
Antibiotic resistance: 10 million deaths per year in 2050?
Antibiotic resistance is 50,000 dead every year in the United States and Europe, and could kill 10 million people per year worldwide by 2050, more than cancer, according to figures from the British government.
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– Antibiotics: handle with care: the new WHO campaign