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Are we making progress in the battle against antimicrobial resistance?

Antimicrobial resistance is a topic of which we should all be aware, and be actively seeking strategies to reduce use of antimicrobial drugs. Here, Kate Woodhead discusses how general awareness is not as good as it should be, and looks at Public Health England’s relaunched public awareness campaign with poster materials and leaflets.

World Antibiotic Awareness Week runs in November each year, and we await the new UK Five-Year Strategy. The Cabinet Office classes antimicrobial resistance (AMR) alongside climate change on the overall risk agenda. The World Bank has predicted that, globally, AMR will lead to increases in morbidity and mortality, increase the burden on healthcare systems, increase extreme poverty, and could inflict heavy losses on the global economy. Without succumbing to tabloid hyperbole, this is a serious issue in healthcare that may turn back the clock to a future without effective antibiotics. Recently, Professor Leaper1 was asked what steps should be taken to prevent antibiotic resistance becoming a reality, and he responded that it is already a real and present threat particularly to treat sepsis, in intensive care and renal units, and particularly where infections have been acquired in hospital.

The nature of the problem

Until the late 1980s the issue was rarely mentioned as being something we needed to worry about. New substances were being developed at that time and brought to market when resistance rendered existing drugs ineffective. That all changed in the 1990s when few new drugs were developed – a situation that continues to this day. The stark fact is that antibiotics and other antimicrobials do not provide drug companies with a decent return on investment, so research is directed elsewhere. It is essential therefore that we use wisely the antimicrobials that are still effective.

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Upcoming Events

ECCMID 2024 - European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Fira Gran Via, 08038 Barcelona, Spain
27-30 April 2024

British Society for Microbial Technology Annual Microbiology Conference

UK Health Security Agency, Colindale, London
2 May 2024

EQA Reports: Interpreting Key Information & Troubleshooting Tips

ONLINE - Zoom
Thursday 16th May 2024

Participants’ Meeting: UK NEQAS Immunology, Immunochemistry & Allergy

Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Howard Street, Sheffield
24th May 2024

Med-Tech Innovation Expo

NEC, Birmingham
5-6 June, 2024

UK NEQAS Blood Coagulation: Clinical and Laboratory Haemostasis 2024

Sheffield Hallam University
5th - 6th June 2024

Access the latest issue of Pathology In Practice on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

Download the FREE Pathology In Practice app from your device's App store

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