Antibiotic resistance – the plague of the XNUMXst century. Drug-resistant bacteria kill millions of people every year [NEW PANDEMIC?]

Worldwide, drug-resistant bacteria are already responsible for the death of millions of people each year. However, scientists are not giving up – not only are they looking for new antibiotics, but are also testing other, various ways to fight dangerous germs.

1. In 2019, 1,2 million people died from drug-resistant infections. 5 million died with the complicity of such germs
2. Science is looking for new antibiotics, and modern technology can help
3. Defensins – molecules that protected human ancestors can also help in the fight against pathogenic microbes
4. Viruses or beneficial bacteria that are harmless to humans can also be an ally
5. More important information can be found on the Onet homepage.

More than 1,2 million people died in 2019 as a direct result of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, and contributed another 5 million deaths. For comparison HIV killed 860 at the same time people, and malaria – 640 thousand. These are the conclusions of the first ever such extensive analysis of the importance of microbial resistance to antibiotics. It covered 204 countries and regions, 23 pathogens and 88 bacterial-drug combinations. Lower respiratory tract infections directly caused the highest number (400) of deaths and contributed to the deaths of over 1,5 million people. Blood infections, including sepsis, came in second, with only slightly smaller numbers. They were followed by infections of the abdominal cavity, incl. appendicitis.

Mainly children at risk

While antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a threat to everything, children under the age of 5 pose the greatest risk. Of the twenty-three pathogens considered, six (E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, S. pneumoniae, A. baumannii, and P. aeruginosa) directly resulted in 930 thousand and contributed to over 3,5 million deaths. Over 70 percent death was the result of resistance to the two classes of antibiotics usually used in the first instance in serious infections.

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‘These new data show the true scale of microbial resistance in the world and a clear signal that action must be taken to deal with this threat. Earlier estimates predicted 10 million annual deaths by 2050, but we now know that we are much closer to that point than we thought. We must use the information we have gained now to change our activities and invest in innovation to lead the race against resistant microorganisms, emphasizes Prof. Chris Murray, co-author of a study that appeared in The Lancet.

Computers find drugs

Can anything be done? First of all, new antibiotics are searched for, and more and more modern technology, for example information technology, helps in this. Currently, computer simulations can partially replace tedious and lengthy experiments in the laboratory. This is important because bacteria can adapt quickly.

– We hope that our research will be able to deal with bacterial resistance through the use of computers. They will help in finding new antibiotics faster and at lower costs, says Prof. Elsa Sanchez-Garcia from Universität Duisburg-Essen.

Thanks to this method, together with researchers from other universities, her team found a molecule that in laboratory tests more than 50 times more destructive of bacteria than two other frequently used antibiotics.

Gel with ions

However, antibiotics are not the only option. It is probably easiest to act on the skin, which is easily accessible. This is demonstrated by the invention of the Swedish team from the Royal Institute of Technology – a bacterial-killing gel that does not contain antibiotics and contains dendritic macromolecules. These large molecules have multiple branches with positively charged ions at their ends. The surface of the bacteria, on the other hand, is negatively charged. “

– Bacterial cells interact strongly with the environment, as do dendritic macromolecules. When they meet, it does not end well for bacteria – emphasizes the inventor, prof. Michael Malkoch. The gel stimulates the skin cells to produce their own antibacterial substances. In the tests, it destroyed practically 100 percent. various pathogenic microbes. It also has other advantages.

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– Dendritic hydrogels are excellent for wound dressing because they are soft, flexible and adhere well to the skin, ensuring good contact with the skin. They also maintain a moist environment optimal for healing processes – explains the researcher.

Defense of millions of years ago

There are many more useful types of chemical molecules. For example, researchers at the University of Southern California are trying to use a defense mechanism that the ancestors of humans had several million years ago, but lost it through evolution. It is about defensins – molecules that do not directly kill pathogenic microbes, but stimulate the immune system to fight them more.

By taking one of these molecules produced by rhesus monkeys, scientists have developed a similar but ten times more effective molecule. The approach has already proven successful in killing dangerous bacteria in trials on mice. Scientists have already signed an agreement with the biotechnology company Oryn Therapeutics to further develop this method.

– We are very optimistic about the transformation of the just described scientific achievement into effective therapies for increasingly dangerous bacterial infections – says company president Robert Erwin.

Viruses into microbes

Special viruses can also help fight bacteria. Bacteriophages attack bacteria but are harmless to humans. At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, the microbiologist Felix d’Herelle, working in Paris, first applied phage therapy to a patient suffering from dysentery. After the invention of antibiotics, however, the scientific world focused on them, and phages were practically forgotten.

Interest in them returns now, in the age of resistance to drugs by bacteria. Naturally, potential phage therapies also have weaknesses, for example, bacteria learn to immunize against viruses that kill them. While they may not be a recipe for everything, they have the potential to contribute a lot to the fight against infection. For example, researchers at Yale University recently described an experiment in which they used the ability of bacteria to immunize against phages. The bacteriophages used killed a large proportion of the dysentery bacteria, while the surviving bacteria became less dangerous. Viruses use a specific protein on the surface of microbes and if it wants to defend itself against them, it must get rid of it, or change it significantly.

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However, this protein is important for causing disease. It is worth adding that the tested bacteria was already resistant to conventional antibiotics. It also attacks mainly inhabitants of less wealthy countries where access to expensive antibiotics is limited. Meanwhile, according to researchers, phages could probably even treat water intakes.

Useful bacteria to protect man?

Another clever approach is proposed by the team at Tel Aviv University, which wants to use the “good” against “bad” bacteria. The researchers emphasize that various bacteria in the environment have been fighting for resources from the very beginning of life on Earth. In the course of evolution, they developed various mechanisms that destroyed other species. Israeli experts have isolated a system from one bacterium that is dangerous for humans, which injects toxins into other bacteria and kills them. They then transferred this mechanism to bacteria that were completely harmless to humans (Vibrio natriegens).

– We are able to create ‘good’ bacteria that can recognize pathogenic bacteria, attack them with toxins and neutralize them. We know how to regulate each component of this system and create bacteria that will neutralize different strains, says the author of the study, Dr. Dor Salomon. – Such bacteria could replace classic antibiotic therapies, which are currently used in various cases – says the expert.

Also read:

1. Do antibiotics fight the coronavirus?
2. Six myths about antibiotics
3. Natural antibiotics – you have them in your kitchen