It is known that disease-causing organisms can develop resistance to antibiotics, rendering them useless against them. A new study concludes that by 2050, 39 million people worldwide may die because pathogens have become resistant to antibiotics, and in another 169 million deaths, such a pathogen may be among the causes of death, writes ARD.< /p>
A research team led by Christopher Murray of Seattle University used 520 million data sets to visualize in a computer model the development of antibiotic resistance from 1990 to 2021, and the model served as a basis for a forecast for the coming years. The results of the scientists' work were published in the scientific journal “The Lancet".
Assessing how much of a threat the resistance problem really is, however, is not that simple. For example, if complications caused by multidrug-resistant microorganisms occur during cancer treatment, the cause of the patient's death is still usually attributed to the cancer, the researchers point out.
Elderly people are particularly affected
From 1990 to 2021, more than one million people worldwide died on average each year due to antimicrobial resistance, we read further in the ARD publication. Age is a factor: while the number of resistance-related deaths in children under the age of five has fallen by 50%, the number of deaths in those over 70 has increased by 80%.
Researchers attribute this to the often lower effectiveness or intolerance of vaccines and drugs in older people, as well as more underlying diseases. As the over-64 population group will grow the most in the coming years, the model predicts an increase in resistance-related deaths by 2050.
The antibiotic crisis is not only affecting low- and middle-income countries. The US and Canada are among the five regions of the world where resistance-related deaths increased the most between 1990 and 2021. By 2050, the highest such deaths are expected in South Asia (including India), Latin America and in the Caribbean, the German public media also points out.
Why antibiotics should not be overused
Experts have long warned about the growing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. One of the important reasons for this is the incorrect or excessive use of drugs.
Antibiotics only help against bacteria and are ineffective against viral infections, which are the cause of most colds. However, they are often prescribed, and each of their use can lead to the spread of new resistant bacteria, we read more in the ARD publication.