AMR-related infections killed over 3 million children globally in 2022: Study

More than three million children worldwide lost their lives in 2022 due to antimicrobial resistance AMRrelated infections a new landmark study has revealedThe study presented today at lsquoESCMID Global 2025rsquo event in Vienna Austria underscores the urgent need for both regional and global strategies to control paediatric AMR particularly in highburden areas such as SouthEast Asia and AfricaAMR poses a critical threat to children who are highly vulnerable to infections Access to new antibiotic formulations is often much more limited for children because of product development delaysThe study data found that in 2022 alone more than 752000 children in Southeast Asia and 659000 children in Africa died of AMRassociated complicationsMany of these deaths were linked to the use of Watch antibiotics drugs with a high risk of resistance and Reserve antibiotics lastresort treatments for severe multidrugresistant infectionsAccording to researchers Watch and Reserve antibiotics are not intended for firstline treatment and their use should be limited only for those who need them to preserve their effectiveness and reduce the development of resistanceIn contrast Access antibiotics are those that are more widely available and used to treat common infections due to their lower potential for increasing resistanceBetween 2019 and 2021 the use of Watch antibiotics increased by 160 per cent in Southeast Asia and 126 per cent in Africa During the same period the use of Reserve antibiotics rose by 45 per cent in Southeast Asia and 125 per cent in AfricaGlobally of the more than 3 million childrenrsquos deaths 2 million were associated with the use of Watch and Reserve antibioticsldquoWhile the rise in use of Watch and Reserve antibiotics may be necessary in response to the concurrent rise in drugresistant infections the sharp rise in use of these drugs presents several serious longterm risksrdquo commented Professor Joseph Harwell study coauthorldquoTheir increased use especially without careful oversight elevates the risk of resistance and limits future treatment options If bacteria develop resistance to these antibiotics there will be few if any alternatives for treating multidrugresistance infections Harwell notedSeveral factors contribute to the severity of AMR in low and middleincome countries including overcrowded hospitals poor sanitation and weak infection prevention measures that facilitate the spread of resistant pathogens within healthcare settings and communitiesAdditionally many low and middleincome countries lack effective national surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship programmes making it difficult to track resistance trends and establish effective treatment protocolsldquoRising resistance to Watch and Reserve antibiotics will ultimately lead to higher treatment failurerdquo said Professor Harwell adding that addressing this issue requires urgent and coordinated action at both the regional and global levelsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params