In Ukraine, due to the ineffectiveness of antibiotics, infections have skyrocketed

In Ukraine, the number of cases of infection with infectious diseases resistant to antibiotics has increased. The British newspaper The Telegraph writes about this with reference to a study by the Center for Public HEALTH of Ukraine (MoPH).

Experts analyzed data obtained from three regional hospitals in Ukraine. According to the study, 14% of 353 patients became ill while in a medical facility. About 60% had an infection caused by organisms resistant to carbapenem, a class of highly effective antibiotics used for severe bacterial infections.

The figures were significantly higher than those obtained in a survey conducted in the European Union in 2016–2017 among more than 300 thousand emergency department patients and 100 thousand hospital patients. Then, among respondents in a medical institution, 5.5% became infected, and in approximately 6.2% of cases, infection resistance to carbapenem was detected.

The main reasons for the increase in resistance to antimicrobial drugs are related to military operations, UPHC is confident. These include poor hygiene standards, including failure to wash hands, an increase in the prevalence of traumatic wounds and increased strain on health care facilities.

The researchers called the spread of drug-resistant infections “alarming” and requires immediate attention. “Antimicrobial resistance is estimated to cause more deaths than HIV or malaria and is recognized as a leading global public health threat,” the report emphasizes. UPHC called on partners to develop measures to prevent antimicrobial resistance “to save lives in Ukraine and limit international spread.”

The World Health Organization calls bacterial resistance to antibiotics “one of the most serious threats to human health.” They noted that antibiotic resistance can affect anyone, at any age and in any country. Antibacterial resistance is a natural phenomenon, but inappropriate use of antibiotics accelerates this process, WHO emphasized.

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The consequences of the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics are the complication of treatment of serious infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and salmonellosis, the length of hospitalization, increased medical costs and mortality. The WHO estimates that antibiotic resistance caused 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019.