Save Antibiotics

12/04/2024

A financial incentive policy implemented by the Japanese government in 2018 was associated with a nearly 20% reduction in antibiotic prescriptions in young children, without adverse health outcomes, researchers report. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial-stewardship/japan-financial-incentives-helped-reduce-antibiotic-prescriptions

A financial incentive policy implemented by the Japanese government in 2018 was associated with a nearly 20% reduction in antibiotic prescriptions in young children, without adverse health outcomes, researchers reported late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

12/03/2024

To keep antibiotic makers afloat, researchers and their output need to be valued "not based on the volume of sales, but on their value to society," Kevin Outterson says. https://globalhealthnow.org/2024-11/superbug-fight-needs-better-business-model

The current pipeline for new antibiotics is “on the verge of collapse” within the next four to eight years—and a key reason is that antibiotic makers can’t stay in business.

12/02/2024

“Wars can kill thousands, but bacteria kills millions,” Baghdad Teaching Hospital's Osama Zuhair Salman says. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/magazine/antibiotic-resistance-disease-war.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Researchers are trying to understand why resistant pathogens are so prevalent in the war-torn nations of the Middle East.

12/01/2024

"All of us – patients, parents and prescribers – must do our part to use antibiotics responsibly to protect ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and the rest of the world, while ensuring their availability for generations to come," Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Dr. Tanaya Bhowmick writes. https://www.nj.com/opinion/2024/11/consider-the-potential-harms-of-antibiotics-lives-may-depend-on-it-opinion.html

An RWJ infectious disease specialist spells it out: Learn to ask questions.

11/30/2024

65% of antibiotic-resistant bloodstream infections in the past five years in England were caused by E. coli, UK Health Security Agency reports. https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/antibiotic-resistant-infections-at-highest-level-since-covid-19-pandemic-finds-government-report

An estimated 66,730 serious antibiotic-resistant infections were reported in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels of 62,314 infections in 2019, a report published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said. The ‘English surveillance of antibiotic prescribing and utilisation report‘ (ESPAU...

11/29/2024

“It’s clear that if we don’t find another set of antibiotics or responses to bacterial infections, more and more people will be catching infections that are no longer responsive to the medicines we have,” Wellcome Trust's Alan Dangour says. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/15/superbugs-antimicrobial-resistance-antibiotics-threat-pandemic-sally-davies

Dame Sally Davies says action on deadly antibiotic-resistant infections must be prioritised

11/28/2024

“Bacteria have one aim in life. They’re going to survive. They survived before us and unfortunately, they might be surviving millions of years after us," World Health Organization (WHO)'s Dr. Hanan Balkhy says. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1157041

The top UN health official gave a sobering reality check as the Fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance began Friday in Jeddah: “AMR doesn't just threaten to make the medicines on which we depend less effective; it’s happening now.”

11/27/2024

"We need to have a plan," Dr. Paul Pottinger says of the growing threat of AMR. https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2024-11-15/health/bipartisan-bill-in-congress-could-aid-fight-against-antibiotic-resistant-superbugs/a93586-1

The fight against infections faces an increasing threat: the rise of superbugs resistant to antibiotics. The issue already impacts nearly three million and kills 35,000 Americans per year. It poses a threat to the effectiveness of antibiotics going forward if the problem is not addressed. ...

11/26/2024

"We have to be very, very careful on how we use antibiotics because it's a good and a bad thing," Dr. Alice Kim says, noting that any time these drugs are used, pathogens have an opportunity to develop resistance. https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2024-11-13/health/experts-say-superbugs-are-making-antibiotic-drugs-less-effective/a93508-1

Medical researchers said germs are getting smarter and more are becoming resistant to a class of drugs designed to treat infections. Doctors say the overprescribing of antibiotics to fight illness has turned some of those pathogens into so-called "superbugs," which cause infections that ca...

11/25/2024

"As the global leader in pharmaceutical development, the U.S. has a moral obligation to lead the way on solving this global problem," former governor of Vermont Howard Dean writes of . https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-u-s-must-lead-the-global-fight-against-superbugs/

Antimicrobial resistance could claim 39 million lives by 2050, yet the pipeline for new antibiotics is drying up. U.S. policymakers can help fix it

11/24/2024

Combining AI with behavioral economics may help healthcare professionals curb unnecessary antibiotic prescribing. https://blogs.bmj.com/bmjgh/2024/11/09/ai-amr-and-behavioral-economics-transforming-antibiotic-prescribing-practices-to-curb-amr/

This blog explores the role of AI and behavioral economics in addressing the inappropriate use of antibiotics and AMR

11/23/2024

Stewardship programs are one important way hospitals, doctors’ offices, and other health care settings can reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing and combat antibiotic resistance. https://pew.org/4fJxhtv