{"id":25852,"date":"2025-04-12T23:24:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T23:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=25852"},"modified":"2025-04-13T00:24:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T00:24:29","slug":"three-million-child-deaths-linked-to-drug-resistance-study-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=25852","title":{"rendered":"Three million child deaths linked to drug resistance, study shows"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-0 haItSe\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-1 cjDa-dM\">60 minutes ago<\/p>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-12 fcCDwR\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-5 evAEAB\">\n<div><span class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-7 kItaYD\">Dominic Hughes<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Global health correspondent<!-- --><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 ejjhCR\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2ceb9b20-16e7-11f0-9b40-fbe9d39f3ec7.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images A computer generated image of the Escherichia coli bacteria - also known as E. coli, the bug that causes food poisoning. It is depicted as a green, slightly furry tube with purple whispy strands.\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\" \/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 hesJxn\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">More than three million children around the world are thought to have died in 2022 as a result of infections that are resistant to antibiotics, according to a study by two leading experts in child health. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Children in Africa and South East Asia were found to be most at risk. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Antimicrobial resistance &#8211; known as AMR &#8211; develops when the microbes that cause infections evolve in such a way that antibiotic drugs no longer work.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">It has been identified as one of the biggest public health threats facing the world&#8217;s population.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">A new study now reveals the toll that AMR is taking on children.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Using data from multiple sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, the report&#8217;s authors have calculated there were more than three million child deaths in 2022 linked to drug-resistant infections.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Experts say this new study highlights a more than tenfold increase in AMR-related infections in children in just three years.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The number could have been made worse by the impact of the Covid pandemic.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">Increased use of antibiotics<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Antibiotics are used to treat or prevent a huge range of bacterial infections &#8211; everything from skin infections to pneumonia. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">They are also sometimes given as a precaution to prevent, rather than treat, an infection &#8211; for example if someone is having an operation or receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Antibiotics have no impact on viral infections, though &#8211; illnesses such as the common cold, flu or Covid.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">But some bacteria have now evolved resistance to some drugs, due to their overuse and inappropriate use, while the production of new antibiotics  &#8211; a lengthy and costly process &#8211; has slowed right down.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The report&#8217;s lead authors, Doctor Yanhong Jessika Hu of Murdoch Children&#8217;s Research Institute in Australia and Professor Herb Harwell of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, point to a significant growth in the use of antibiotics that are meant to only be held back for the most serious infections. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Between 2019 and 2021 the use of &#8220;watch antibiotics&#8221;, drugs with a high risk of resistance, increased by 160% in South East Asia and 126% in Africa.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Over the same period, &#8220;reserve antibiotics&#8221; &#8211;  last-resort treatments for severe, multidrug-resistant infections &#8211; rose by 45% in South East Asia and 125% in Africa.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">Dwindling options<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The authors warn that if bacteria develop resistance to these antibiotics, there will be few, if any, alternatives for treating multidrug-resistant infections.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Prof Harwell is presenting the findings at the Congress of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Vienna later this month.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;AMR is a global problem. It affects everyone. We did this work really to focus on the disproportionate way in which AMR affects children,&#8221; he said ahead of the event.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;We estimate three million deaths of children worldwide associated with antimicrobial resistance.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">Is there a solution to AMR?<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/health-topics\/antimicrobial-resistance\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">The WHO describes AMR as one of the most serious global health threats<!-- --><\/a> we face, but speaking from Vienna, Prof Harwell warns that there are no easy answers.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a multi-faceted problem that extends into all aspects of medicine and really, human life,&#8221; he said. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;Antibiotics are ubiquitous around us, they end up in our food and the environment and so coming up with a single solution is not easy.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The best way to avoid a resistant infection is to avoid infection altogether, which means higher levels of immunisation, water sanitation and hygiene are needed, he adds.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;There&#8217;s going to be more antibiotics use because there&#8217;s more people who need them, but we need to make sure that they are used appropriately and the correct medicines are used.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Dr Lindsey Edwards, a senior lecturer in microbiology at King&#8217;s College London, said the new study &#8220;marks a significant and alarming increase compared to previous data&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;These findings should serve as a wake-up call for global health leaders. Without decisive action, AMR could undermine decades of progress in child health, particularly in the world&#8217;s most vulnerable regions.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"links-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 jVHuOl\">\n<div class=\"sc-93223220-0 sc-46222299-0 ctbOlq hmFIuq\"><span data-testid=\"links-title\" class=\"sc-46222299-2 gdGcRT\">More on this story<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>60 minutes ago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24693,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25852"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25856,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25852\/revisions\/25856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}