Antibiotics fail in fifth of post-op infections
A fifth of infections in patients following hospital surgery now no longer respond to antibiotics, according to research described as “extremely worrying”. The global study found that 22 per cent of cases were resistant to the antibiotics that should be clearing them up. Doctors said it was further evidence of the consequences of over-prescribing antibiotics as a precaution and called for swift action to cut the needless use of the drugs.
ANTIBIOTICS are now failing to work in a fifth of patients who suffer an infection after hospital surgery, according to the first major study investigating the crisis.
The global research, published by The Lancet, found that one in eight patients undergoing common procedures such as appendix removal developed an infection while recovering.
And 22 per cent of cases were found to be resistant to the antibiotics that should have protected them.
The study, led by the University of Edinburgh, tracked more than 13,000 patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery in 66 countries, including those in the UK.
Researchers said the findings were “extremely worrying,” with potentially “catastrophic” consequences.
Prof Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, said that antibiotic resistance was as great a threat to the nation as terrorism.
The new research – the first such detailed study to track the subject on such a scale – found levels of antibiotic resistance were highest in the poorest countries, where they were most frequently doled out.
In such countries, almost one quarter of patients developed an infection – and 36 per cent of these were found to be resistant to drugs.
While the figures were lower in more affluent parts of the world, including the UK, high-income countries still saw almost one in ten patients undergoing such operations end up with an infection. And of those, 17 per cent were found to be antibiotic resistant.
Dr Ewen Harrison, the lead researcher, said resistance across the globe was being fuelled by high levels of over-prescribing, especially in developing countries.
“We really should be worried about this, we need to be much smarter about only using antibiotics when they are needed, not as a precaution. These organisms are not confined by country borders, so it takes global action to address this,” he added.
Despite major concerns about the spread of antibiotic resistance, until now there was a lack of detailed evidence examining links between prescribing habits and antibiotic resistance globally, he said.
In October, Dame Sally warned that Britain could face a “post-antibiotic apocalypse,” without swift action to cut needless use of such drugs.
It came as health officials launched a national campaign urging patients not to demand antibiotics, as part of global efforts to restrict use of the drugs.
She said patients often thought GPS were “being mean” when they refused them drugs, when in fact they were doing their best to conserve the antibiotics, so they are still available when they are truly needed. If antibiotics lose their effectiveness it will spell “the end of modern medicine” said Dame Sally, who said global action to cut antibiotic use had been “far too slow”.