How does antibiotic resistance spread?
Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to combat the action of one or more antibiotics.
Humans and animals do not become resistant to antibiotic treatments, but bacteria carried by humans and animals can.
Antimicrobial resistance happens when microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites) change when they are exposed to antimicrobial drugs (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarials, and anthelmintics). Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are someti...mes referred to as “superbugs”.
As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.
more
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important threats to the health worldwide. Antimicrobial resistance or drug resistance is the reduction of the pharmaceutical effects of a drug against a disease or reduction of its effectiveness in improving the clinical signs of a disease. Antimicrobial ...resistance occurs naturally but misuse of antibiotics in human and animals significantly accelerates the process of developing antimicrobial resistance. In fact, antimicrobial resistance refers to the resistance of a microorganism to one or more antimicrobial drugs which had been previously sensitive to these drugs. Antimicrobial resistance can occur in a wide variety of pathogens including bacteria, parasites, viruses, fungi, and cancer cells and may threaten the life of every person, in every age, and in every country
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a global public health concern and Lebanon is of no exception to this issue. The spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria is considered an alarming public health threat, with a potential extent similar to global warming and other social and environmental t...hreats.
more
Antimicrobials have been a critical public health tool since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, saving the lives of millions of people around the world. Today, however, the emergence of drug resistance is reversing the miracles of the past eighty years, with drug choices for the treatment of many ...infections becoming increasingly limited, expensive, and, in some cases, non-existent.
Conscious of the public health threats of AMR to both humans, animals and the environment, the ministries of health and sanitation, agriculture forestry and food security and the environmental protection agency put together a national multi-sectoral coordinating group tasked with the responsibility of establishing mechanisms to integrate all initiatives into a single concerted action and development of the national AMR strategic plan (2018-2022). The National Strategic Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance is the first approach which addresses AMR specifically.
more
Please find all relevant guidelines and information on antimicrobial resistance AMR in our new AMR TOOLBOX
www.amrbox.org
The videos introduce AMR, what it is, and how it is spread (hospital-acquired, community-acquired, foods of animal origin, environmentally acquired). The take-home messages are what can be done to reduce the risk of AMR. They were produced through a partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organiza...tion.
The first video highlights what AMR is and the repercussions of not using anti-microbials properly. It also defines AMR and highlights that we are all a part of the solution
more
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) provides a vast amount of information and the highest possible resolution for pathogen subtyping. The application of WGS for global surveillance can provide information on the early emergence and spread of AMR and further inform timely policy development on AMR control.... Sequencing data emanating from AMR surveillance may provide key information to guide the development of rapid diagnostic tools for better and more rapid characterization of AMR, and thus complement phenotypic methods. This document addresses the applications of WGS for AMR surveillance, including the benefits and limitations of current WGS technologies
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance plays an important role in the early detection of resistant strains of public health importance and prompt response to outbreaks in hospitals and the community. Surveillance findings are needed to inform medical practice, antibiotic stewardship, and policy... and interventions to combat AMR. Appropriate use of antimicrobials, informed by surveillance, improves patients’ treatment outcomes and reduces the emergence and spread of AMR. This protocol describes the steps and procedures to establish/enhance AMR surveillance in Latin America and the Caribbean.
more
World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & World Organisation for Animal Health. (2021). Antimicrobial resistance and the United Nations sustainable development cooperation framework: guidance for United Nations country teams. World Health Organization
Antimicrobial Resistance or AMR continues to pose a major threat to human development and to the fight against infectious diseases. It also endangers animal health and welfare, and food production, and severely impacts our economies and societies. An holistic approach must be used to mitigate AMR ri...sks in Africa. Therefore, AMR governance is essential to promote sustainable actions that include proper institutional collaborations from public and private sectors to meet the dynamic societal demands in the continent. So join us in being part of the solution to Antimicrobial Resistance in Africa!
The Video is available in English, French, Arabic and Portuguese
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections ha...rder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.
Antimicrobials - including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics - are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.
more
Antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic resistance are a major threat to public health. How can we tackle them? Get answers with a range of courses.
The course will cover the topics related to antimicrobial resistance with basic definitions and overview on antimicrobials their use and the emergence and spread of resistance. The course will guide you through the concepts and the importance of resistance spread and dissemination and how that happ...ens. It will show you how bacteria become resistant and which mechanisms they might use for this. And as part of the course you will also receive some training in methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and detection of specific resistance in the microbiological laboratories with the basic methods available and with focus on the obtention of good quality results which can be interpreted and used for different purposes.
more
Combatting the rising global threat of AMR through a One Health Approach
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat that requires urgent
collaborative action within and among countries. As a result of the worldwide reports of the increasing rates of AMR to hospital and community-acquired infections and in the agricultural sector, the Global Action Plan on AMR was... adopted in 2015. T
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – the ability of microorganisms to resist antimicrobial treatments, especially antibiotics – has a direct impact on human and animal health and carries a heavy economic burden due to higher costs of treatments and reduced productivity caused by sickness. AMR is res...ponsible for an estimated 33,000 deaths per year in the EU. It is also estimated that AMR costs the EU €1.5 billion per year in healthcare costs and productivity losses.
more
In this edition, the Antimicrobial Resistance chapter discusses the growing, dangerous trend of antimicrobial resistance and the potential catastrophic consequences on global health.
Chapter 1 of Frontier 2017: Emerging Issues of Environmental Concern
Information note of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance.
Available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic
These guidelines form part of efforts to institutionalize the prevention and containment of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in healthcare facilities in South Africa, as outlined in the Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan. The focus of these guidelines is on two interr...elated aspects of prevention of healthcare associated infections (HAIs) and their spread; and the application of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) practices at hospital level. They aim to serve as a practical, step-by-step or ‘how-to’ guide, addressing the infection prevention and AMS components of a robust response in a hospital. They draw on
evidence from various international guidance documents and standards for interventions that have been shown to be successful in infection
prevention and AMS programmes. These interventions have been customised to the South African hospital setting based on local
experiences in the public and private health sectors. This was done through a series of workshops and requests for comment involving
country-level experts.
more