Malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, nosocomial infections ... since the advent of drugs antomicrobianos in the forties, people have been winning the battle against infectious disease killer of past generations. Without But this war is turning over due to the emergence of pathogens resistant to treatment. A worrying situation that World Health Organization (WHO) has devoted its annual World Health Day, celebrated on 7 April.
Resistance to most common antibiotics to treat infections, resistance to antiviral drugs effective against HIV, malaria resistance against keeping malaria at bay ... the list is endless. According to the international body, the misuse of drugs during the past seventy years has allowed the list of microbes that have become stronger medication has not stopped growing.
and ratified it with data. Every year, WHO says, arise 440,000 new cases of TB in the world resitente (strains rebels charged 150,000 lives), while the parasite responsible for malaria (responsible for two million deaths per year) is learning to reject the latest effective treatment against malaria, artemisinin. And much closer to our borders, the NDM-1 gene, discovered in various bacteria, begins to worry laboratories for their resistance to the most powerful antibiotics.
There is no single cause, no single culprit for the spread of this phenomenon, but the WHO does list a list of practices and factors help not just to have a control virus, bacteria, parasites, fungi and other microbes. Misuse of drugs on national systems for infection control, poor systems of infection control, interruptions and problems in the supply of drugs, international incoordination ...
The problem, experts add, is that treating a patient does not respond to the first line of treatment, forced to resort to second-line therapies, more expensive and not always as effective against these "superbugs" . "The extension of the disease, long hospital admissions and expensive treatments healthcare costs for both systems and for families, "they say. Hence the theme for this date:" Antimicrobial resistance: unless we act now, there is no cure tomorrow. "
The situation can be especially serious in areas where diseases like malaria are endemic. "Here we carry out epidemiological surveillance activities to anticipate and see how pathogens are evolving," explains Blake Love Tabajaras population samples from malaria-endemic areas (either tourists or immigrants) "we can see the pattern of expansion of the mutations responsible for resistance."
In Spain, English Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology , acknowledges that much of the population is still not aware of the dangers, for example, taking an antibiotic at the wrong time. "It is important to note that these drugs do not cure infections caused by viruses like the common cold or flu, and are only effective against bacterial infections. The correct diagnosis and decision on the need to administer antibiotics are the responsibility sole practitioners and in no case be resorted to self-medication, "says the association in a statement.
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