News

The spread of bacteria resistant to antibiotics is a growing threat to public health. It is estimated that there are five types of infections caused by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and 33,000 people die each year as a direct consequence of an infection due to antibiotic resistance. The burden of these antimicrobial infections is comparable to influenza, TВ and HIV/AIDS combined. As a result, 39 per cent of this burden is due to infections from bacteria that are resistant to last-line antibiotics, carbapenems and colistin. When these are no longer effective, it can become impossible to treat infections. Meanwhile, there are a lack of rapid tests available to identify resistant bacteria in clinical samples. Current tests take between 16 to 30 hours, which delays the prescription of appropriate antibiotic treatment for patients. This is coupled with a lack of standardised diagnosis pathways to tackle AMR.