5 bacteria behind 680k deaths in 2019

Infections remain a leading cause of death globally and in India, five bacteria were responsible for at least 680,000 deaths in 2019, a new Lancet study has revealed. The five deadly bacteria in India are led by E.coli, along with S. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus and A. baumanii.

E. coli alone claimed at least 160,000 lives in India in 2019. Globally, there were 7.7 million deaths associated with the 33 bacterial pathogens (both resistant and susceptible to antimicrobials) across the 11 infectious syndromes.

“The 33 bacterial pathogens that we investigated in this study are a substantial source of health loss globally, with considerable variation in their distribution across infectious syndromes and locations,” said the Lancet study.

Urgent priority

“Hence, they should be considered an urgent priority for intervention within the global health community. Strategies to address the burden of bacterial infections include infection prevention, optimised use of antibiotics, improved capacity for microbiological analysis, vaccine development, and improved and more pervasive use of available vaccines,” the researchers noted.