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WHO’s deadly dozen
The WHO released the list in the hope it prompts governments
to put in place policies that incentivise basic science and advanced
research and development. But the group said this alone won’t
solve the problem as there must also be better prevention of
infections and appropriate use of existing antibiotics in humans
and animals, as well as rational use of any new antibiotics that are
developed in the future.
The WHO has published a list of the
12 most threatening bacteria in the
fight against antibiotic resistance.
T
he World Health Organization has released a list of 12
families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human
health.
The list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” was created to
guide and promote research and development of new antibiotics.
WHO assistant director-general for health systems and
innovation Dr Marie-Paule Kieny said antibiotic resistance is
growing and treatment options are fast running out. “If we leave it
to market forces alone, the new antibiotics we most urgently need
are not going to be developed in time,” Kieny said.
Dr Michael Gillings, professor of molecular evolution at
Macquarie University, said that over the past decade there has
been very little activity in research on developing new antibiotics.
“The reasons for that are the expense of development coupled
with the fact that they don’t return a lot of profit when they are
developed,” Gillings said. “It’s the role of governments to subsidise
or promote that research and development if we’re going to get
new antibiotic classes.”
THE WHO PRIORITY PATHOGENS LIST
Deemed priority 1 or critical are:
• Acinetobacter baumannii, carbapenem-resistant
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant
• Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem-resistant, ESBL-producing.
High priority:
• Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant
• Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-
intermediate and resistant
• Helicobacter pylori, clarithromycin-resistant
• Campylobacter spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant
• Salmonellae, fluoroquinolone-resistant
• Neisseria gonorrhoeae, cephalosporin-resistant,
fluoroquinolone-resistant.
Of medium priority:
• Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-non-susceptible
• Haemophilus influenzae, ampicillin-resistant
• Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant. ■
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