Experts Warn Antimicrobial Resistance Spreading Quickly After Researchers Discover Drug-Resistant Gene From India In Arctic Environment

The Guardian: Bacteria and viruses are fighting back, but will big pharma save us?
“An apocalypse is looming, warn the public health experts. The specter of a benighted world where humankind again falls prey to bacterial plagues, wiping out the frail and the young, has been hanging over us for many years now. Infections we have conquered, such as pneumonia and typhoid, will return to kill us. Surgery and chemotherapy for cancer will carry huge risks. It’s a distant scenario as yet, but it cannot be dismissed as alarmist rhetoric…” (Boseley, 1/25).

The Telegraph: The superbugs that could be ‘bigger than cancer’ by 2050
“…[E]xperts believe such a vision could be reality as soon as 2050, with more than 10 million people dying each year due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). To put that into context, that’s more than the amount of people who are estimated to die from cancer annually…” (Lambert, 1/26).

Wall Street Journal: Superbug From India Spread Far and Fast, Study Finds
“An antibiotic-resistant gene originally discovered in bacteria from India was found 8,000 miles away in a remote Arctic environment, according to a new study. Researchers believe the gene, found in bacteria in the soil of a Norwegian archipelago, made the trek in less than three years, highlighting the speed with which antibiotic resistance can spread on a global scale…” (Abbott, 1/27).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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