According to Chokshi et al. (2019), diseases caused by infections have been a major contributor to mortality historically. Nevertheless, in the 20th century, there have been various developments in medicine and public health that have played a key role in reducing the burden of infectious diseases. In 1900, infections accounted for a third of the deaths (Chokshi et al., 2019). However, in 2014, non-communicable diseases were the leading cause of death. The discovery of antibiotics such as penicillin contributed vastly to reducing the infectious diseases’ mortality rate. The discovery of antibiotics made many believe that infectious diseases could be completely conquered. Nevertheless, infections have become of great concern, more so those that cannot be treated by the previously discovered antibiotics since infectious pathogens can evolve and develop resistance towards antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance has emerged to be a threat to the health sector globally. For example, it is estimated that MRSA causes about 50,000 deaths every year in the U.S. and Europe. TB, which is one of the antibiotic-resistance diseases, adversely affects developing countries.
Vindicating the risks of antibiotic resistance needs to address the causes of antibiotic resistance in people. The first step of handling antibiotic resistance is to identify its risk factors. Chatterjee et al., 2018 did a systematic review employing one of the health approaches to evaluate the critical causes of antibiotic resistance in humans (Chatterjee et al., 2018). After reviewing 565 studies from 2819 studies, the study quality was assessed as per the Cochrane recommendation, and the key drivers of antibiotic resistance identified include invasive procedures, underlying diseases, and previous antibiotic exposure. The review revealed the three risk factors to be having the most supporting evidence. It was noted that the antibiotic resistance odd ratios ranged from 2 to 4 for these three threat factors relative to their corresponding controls. Other factors causing antibiotic resistance include easy access to antibiotics and improper diagnosis.
The case-control study is the prevalent method of examining the risk factors towards acquiring antibiotic-resistant organisms. There are more than 100 studies addressing antimicrobial resistance that have been published. There is a need to approach the studies on the antibiotic resistance risk factors such a way that focuses on the true purposes of the studies (Kim et al., 2022). The studies should aim at changing prescribing pattern of antibiotics and prove that such changes are fostering patient outcomes. When carrying out the studies, case patients should be defined for a case-control study. The definition of case-patients includes patients having unequivocally significant isolates, patients having clinical specimens, and patients having an infectious disease identified by clinical criteria.
Antibiotic resistance and its prevalent implications cause a heightening crisis in the health care sector. Recent research suggests that the environment has an essential element for the resistant bacteria transmission and the development of resistant pathogens. There is a need for an extensive study on the evolutionary process that leads to antibiotic resistance (Bengtsson-Palme et al., 2018). Even though the resistance genes take place continuously, most of these genetic events do not establish novel resistance factors in the population of bacteria. In order to put in place antibiotic resistance preventive measures, it is paramount to assess under which condition does antibiotic resistance occurs. While understanding dispersal barriers is vital in the evaluation, it is also important to research the prevention of resistant pathogens from reaching humans. Lateral gene transmission contributes in spreading of novel resistance genetic factor. The lateral gene transmission makes the availability of resistance genes in larger amounts in the bacteria environment in a given environment.
Antibiotic treatment in treating infectious diseases is one of the methods of saving lives. However, antibiotic resistance is fading the purpose of antibiotics. Industry scientists changed from making old drugs and embarked on making new drugs but failed. In the past years, various organizations have focused on antibiotic resistance actions, conferences, and visible reports (Cars et al., 2021). Some of the actions and plans the organizations have come up with include embracing antibiotic stewardship in the community and healthcare facilities, the establishment of rapid care diagnosis, employment of industry and academic partners to heighten the pipeline of antibiotics, and international partnership.
According to Duval et al. (2019), the battle against antibiotic resistance is tough but it has not been lost. The war has to continue, and it needs better knowledge for a better accomplishment of the antibiotics and that of the mechanism of antibiotic resistance. There is also be a better understanding of the appropriate use of antibiotics. There should be sensitization of the correct usage of antibiotics. New antibiotics should seem to be more effective than the old ones (Duval et al., 2019). In 2019, FDA permitted the marketing of new antibiotics. For instance, there, it approved the marketing of Lefamulin in treating community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. Lefamulin displays great hope in the establishment of new effective antibiotics. The search for new antibiotics should continue to ensure the issue of antibiotic resistance is mitigated.
References
Chatterjee, A., Modarai, M., Naylor, N. R., Boyd, S. E., Atun, R., Barlow, J., … & Robotham, J. V. (2018). Quantifying drivers of antibiotic resistance in humans: a systematic review. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 18(12), e368-e378.
Bengtsson-Palme, J., Kristiansson, E., & Larsson, D. J. (2018). Environmental factors influencing the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. FEMS microbiology reviews, 42(1), fux053.
Duval, R. E., Grare, M., & Demoré, B. (2019). Fight against antimicrobial resistance: we always need new antibacterials but for right bacteria. Molecules, 24(17), 3152.
Cars, O., Chandy, S. J., Mpundu, M., Peralta, A. Q., Zorzet, A., & So, A. D. (2021). Resetting the agenda for antibiotic resistance through a health systems perspective. The Lancet Global Health, 9(7), e1022-e1027.
Kim, M. H., Kim, Y. C., Kim, J. L., Park, Y. S., & Kim, H. (2022). Description of antibiotic treatment in adults tested for Clostridioides difficile infection: a single-center case–control study. BMC Infectious Diseases, 22(1), 1-9.
Chokshi, A., Sifri, Z., Cennimo, D., & Horng, H. (2019). Global contributors to antibiotic resistance. Journal of global infectious diseases, 11(1), 36.
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