The world’s first major report on antibiotic resistance has shown many common infections are becoming resistant to drugs.
The most commonly reported drug resistant bacteria were those that cause diarrhoea and urinary tract infections.
Others were those that cause a range of diseases, including pneumonia and meningitis.
Drug resistance is a result of a growing number of “superbug” infections that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics.
The Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System Report, released by the World Health Organization yesterday, sampled antibiotic resistance among 500,000 people from 22 countries.
Kenya did not submit data for the report, but some of these drug resistant bacteria have been reported in Kenya due to over-use of drugs.
WHO said among the countries sampled, resistance to penicillin – the medicine used for decades worldwide to treat pneumonia – ranged from zero to 51 per cent.
“Some of the world’s most common and potentially most dangerous infections are proving drug-resistant,” says Dr Marc Sprenger, director of WHO’s Antimicrobial Resistance Secretariat.
“And most worrying of all, pathogens don’t respect national borders. That’s why WHO is encouraging all countries to set up good surveillance systems for detecting drug resistance that can provide data to this global system.”
Kenya has developed and approved the National Policy and Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance and is building its national surveillance system.
Outgoing Health CS Cleopa Mailu said, “Kenya is no exception to this threat, with increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance among infections contributing the most to human disease nationally, being reported in our hospitals and communities.” -The Star
