Superbug could outpace cancer deaths
Dire warning on bacterial resistance
WASHINGTON — The world could have a deadly and expensive problem on its hands if the growing fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria stays on the same track, a dire new warning says.
The so-called superbugs, if left unchecked, could result in 10 million deaths each year by 2050 — more than the number of people killed by cancer — and put a $100 trillion dent in the global economy, according to a report commissioned by British Prime Minister David Cameron. The analysis, which projects a drop of two per cent to 3.5 per cent in global economic output, comes from RAND Europe and KPMG.
Overuse and abuse of antibiotics has helped build up bacterial resistance, making it hard to fight off many common illnesses. Superbugs already cause two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths in the United States alone each year.
The report, authored by former Goldman Sachs executive Jim O’Neill, says the anticipated effects of the worst-case scenario could be understated. Failure to contain the antimicrobial resistance could undermine a heavy reliance on prophylactic antibiotics provided during surgery.
“In a world where antibiotics do not work, this measure would become largely useless and surgery would become far more dangerous,” the report says.
But there are some signs of progress in the fight again superbugs. A Dutch biotech company last year reported early success in a new treatment to cure MRSA, a staph bacteria, which is especially resistant to antibiotics. Fecal transplants, which are pretty much exactly what they sound like, have shown success in treating Clostridium difficile, an internal bacterial infection.
The health community has been warning about this superbug threat for years. Earlier this year, the World Health Organization labelled it a “global epidemic.”
One of the world’s largest drugmakers, Merck, announced plans this week for an $8.4 billion acquisition of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, one of the leaders in the effort to develop superbug fighting drugs. The United States Agency for International Development on Thursday announced a $30 million partnership with Janssen Therapeutics to focus on fighting drug-resistant tuberculosis.
A panel advising U.S. President Barack Obama warned in September there wasn’t a robust enough pipeline of new drugs to replace the ones now rendered ineffective by antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics generally provide low returns on investment, so they’re not an especially attractive area for research and development.
Obama has ordered a national action plan by February on how to combat this growing threat.