working<\/a>, she worries about what will happen if her son\u2019s infections become resistant to those drugs, too. As it stands, they are carefully treated only if they meet certain symptom and bacteria thresholds<\/p>\nHarry is not an outlier<\/p>\n
Life-saving drugs used to treat common childhood infections are increasingly failing and the resistance of bacteria to these medicines will only worsen over the next decade, a global analysis has found<\/p>\n
Led by Murdoch Children\u2019s Research Institute (MCRI) in collaboration with the University of Sydney in Australia, researchers analysed 106,581 infection samples from children aged up to 18 years old across 82 countries<\/p>\n
They found antibiotic resistance \u2013 when bacteria are no longer killed by antimicrobial medicines \u2013 increased in every region between 2004 and 2022<\/p>\n
Babies and children in intensive care, and countries with fewer healthcare re the Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday<\/p>\n
Paper co-author and MCRI associate professor Penelope Bryant, who is also one of Harry\u2019s doctors, said severe infections such as sepsis and pneumonia are driving the increase<\/p>\n
These are often caused by Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacteria with a tough double-membrane and the highest level of drug resistance, according to the findings<\/p>\n
The study found another bacteria,Klebsiella, a common cause of urinary tract infections and liver abscesses, recorded the fastest increase in resistance, particularly in south-east Asia, eastern Europe and the western Pacific<\/p>\n
The researchers also used statistical modelling and found resistance to last-line antibiotics is projected to rise substantially by 2035, reaching 82% and 35% for Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella respectively<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are finding antibiotic resistance not just in severe diseases but in more simple, uncomplicated infections such as urinary tract infections in children,\u201d Bryant said<\/p>\n
Despite antimicrobial resistance being one of the biggest threats to children\u2019s health globally, Bryant said children had been largely overlooked in global antibiotic resistance surveillance and research, resulting in a lack of child-friendly antibiotic formulations or clear child-dosing guidelines<\/p>\n
This is because there is sometimes a reluctance to run trials on children and developing treatments for them can be less lucrative for pharmaceutical companies, she said<\/p>\n
Children are also especially vulnerable as they experience high rates of bacterial infections and have fewer antibiotic options than adults<\/p>\n
To better understand antibiotic resistance by country, bacteria and type of drug, Bryant and her colleagues launched a website called AMR in Kids, providing region and pathogen-specific forecasts to 2035. They hope it will help identify emerging threats, inform treatment decisions and help guide planning and research<\/p>\n
A paediatrician and incoming president of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, Prof Chris Blyth, described the study and website as \u201creally important work\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s overuse of antibiotics found to be driving rate of drug-resistant infections
\nRead more<\/p>\n
\u201cIt highlights the size of the problem and that the problem is not equally spread globally,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
In low-income countries, antibiotic resistance is being driven by unregulated antibiotic use and poor sanitation, making better access to diagnostic techniques and first-line antibiotics a priority. In high-income countries, antibiotic overuse across farming, veterinarian care and healthcare is fuelling drug resistance<\/p>\n
Treatments that do not work for children with resistant infections are rare in high-income countries but in low-income countries drug-resistant infections are one of the highest causes of death in children under five<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization classifies antibiotics into three groups to help prevent antimicrobial resistance: \u201caccess\u201d antibiotics are more targeted, first-line treatments; \u201cwatch\u201d drugs are used more broadly but carry higher resistance risks; and \u201creserve\u201d are last-resort drugs for treating the most resistant infections<\/p>\n
The study found while first-line access resistance is declining or stabilising in high-income regions, lower-reatch and reserve drugs<\/p>\n
\u201cIt highlights the real need to have global surveillance systems in place, both in Australia and internationally, to track and identify resistance,\u201d Blyth said<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m frequently seeing children with difficult-to-treat infections that are resistant to first and second-line agents [drugs], where I\u2019m having to reach for agents that are more difficult to get, more difficult to give, more expensive, and potentially more toxic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Booth family hopes that rerry are better protected<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are already starting to understand the long-term effects of antibiotics,\u201d Eileen Booth said, \u201cbut there is a long way to go with education around resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
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