Rise of drug-resistant bacteria signals the impending antibiotic apocalypse

The looming antibiotic apocalypse could soon plunge medicine back into the dark ages.

Scientists have recently discovered bacteria that can resist colistin – the antibiotic of last resort – in patients and livestock in China. They fear that resistance could spread around the world and raise the epidemic of untreatable infections.

If this happens, common infections could kill once again, while surgery and cancer therapies – which are reliant on antibiotics – would be under threat.

The newly discovered mutation that prevented colistin from killing bacteria – the MCR-1 gene – has spread between a range of bacterial strains and species, including E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.^[1]

Prof. Timothy Walsh, who collaborated on the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, told BBC News: “All the key players are now in place to make the post-antibiotic world a reality.

“If MCR-1 becomes global, which is a case of when, not if, and the gene aligns itself with other antibiotic resistance genes, which is inevitable, then we will have very likely reached the start of the post-antibiotic era.

“At that point if a patient is seriously ill, say with E. coli, then there is virtually nothing you can do.”

The Chinese government is now said to be moving swiftly to address the problem.

Prof. Laura Piddock, from the campaign group Antibiotic Action, told BBC News: “Hopefully the post-antibiotic era is not upon us yet. However, this is a wake-up call to the world.”

The implications of this study are enormous. If no immediate action is undertaken to halt the growing problem, doctors might soon face a scenario where nothing else can be done to cure their patients’ infections.

Source:

[1] BBC.com