Every year, the world observes World TB Day on March 24 to raise awareness of the continued tuberculosis epidemic, especially in the developing world, and efforts to fight it. March 24 is the date in 1882 when mycobacterium tuberculosis – the pathogenic bacteria which causes the disease – was discovered the Nobel Prize winning scientist […]
antimicrobial resistance
Diphtheria threat increasing as infection evolves antimicrobial resistance
Diphtheria’s threat is increasing as the easily-preventable infection, usually treated with antibiotics and vaccines, is evolving with antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) strains, posing a risk that the disease may once again become a major global challenge. This is according to an international team of researchers from the UK and India. They conducted the study using genomics to […]
Antimicrobial stewardship needed to prevent resistance rise in the midst of new normal and COVID-19
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been identified by experts as a pitfall that may arise from the ‘new normal’ of the COVID-19 pandemic with virtual assessments limiting diagnostic capabilities. In India, poor availability and utilisation of diagnostics have led to increased focus on AMR and the need for better stewardship. Agencies such as the World Health […]
Antimicrobial Awareness Week begins: What it means for India
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. With today marking the commencement of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, it is worthwhile examining what antimicrobial resistance is and what it means for India. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines antimicrobial resistance as “when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites resist the […]
Colistin resistance: AIIMS sounds the alarm
In yet another concerning insight into India’s growing drug resistance epidemic, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi has sounded alarms over colistin resistance among patients. The Trauma Centre at the facility has reported that, of 846 people studied who were infected with the Klebsiella pneumoniae bacterium, 22 did not respond to […]
Community water breeding an antimicrobial resistance crisis in Bareilly?
Researchers have found ‘superbug’ contamination of more than half of community water samples tested in Bareilly, in a recent study conducted by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI). The term ‘superbug’ refers to strains of bacteria resistant to numerous clinically used antibiotics used to treat a range of diseases. The IVRI studied 111 samples taken […]
Antimicrobial resistance: Vardhan calls for action
Antimicrobial resistance is on the rise in India, with even resistance to the commonly used antibiotic clarithromycin on the rise. “The resistance to clarithromycin is rising among the Indian patients and that too at quite a fast pace,” said Sunil Sofat, additional director of the Department of Interventional Cardiology at Jaypee Hospital in Noida. “There […]
India joins global antimicrobial resistance group
India is the latest country to join a global coalition aiming to combat antimicrobial resistance. Among current members are sixteen countries, the European Commission, two philanthropic foundations and four international organisations (as observers). With India as a member, the research hub now represents more than half the world’s population. India is among the countries most […]
Colistin ban in food sector over drug resistance concerns
India’s food production sector has been banned from using the antibiotic colistin, over concerns about its misuse potentially fuelling drug resistance. According to a 2009 study, “colistin is…being used increasingly as a ‘last-line’ therapy to treat infections caused by [multi-drug-resistant] Gram-negative bacteria, when essentially no other options are available.” Yet concerns are growing that, in […]
Kerala takes stand against hospital acquired infections
Kerala has learnt its lessons after the Nipah tragedy. It is to introduce a policy to control and prevent hospital acquired infections. The move comes after the Nipah virus outbreak in the state earlier this year, in which all but four of those who succumbed to the virus contracted it in hospital. “We are working […]