Special journal issue focuses on resistance and ways to tackle it
In a special issue of Science published today, four reviews highlight the different ways that organisms develop resistance to the chemicals used to combat them, and how scientists might be able to counteract that resistance. Two of the articles focus on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antifungal resistance.
In the review on AMR, molecular microbiologist Stephen Baker, PhD, and colleagues provide an overview of how bacterial pathogens have developed resistance to antibiotics in humans and animals, with a focus on the key role that whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has played in helping scientists better understand resistance mechanisms, pathogen evolution, population dynamics, and genomic epidemiology. While we cannot stop bacterial evolution, they note, genomics has revealed several repeating patterns in the emergence and spread of AMR bacteria that could help clinicians develop new strategies for controlling them and use current and future antibiotics more effectively.
In the article on antifungal resistance, an international team, led by researchers from Imperial College of London and the University of Exeter, explain how the overuse of existing antifungal agents in human and animal medicine and plant agriculture has hastened the independent development of resistance in many environments. As a result, opportunistic fungal pathogens have emerged in the field and in the clinic, highlighted by the emergence of Candida auris, a multidrug-resistant fungus that is responsible for rapidly increasing invasive infections in intensive care units around the world. The authors argue that in addition to more research on new antifungals, more robust strategies to slow the development of antifungal resistance are needed, along with alternative antifungal strategies.
"To counter the escalating risks of fungal disease, we need to discover antifungal chemicals with new modes of action, hinder the emergence of resistance in extant chemicals by better stewardship, and develop new disease control strategies to avoid overreliance on fungicides," they write.
May 17 Science article on AMR
May 17 Science article on antifungal resistance
US kids and adolescents using fewer antibiotics, study finds
Prescription antibiotic use in US children and adolescents was nearly cut in half from 1999 to 2014, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In a study to evaluate trends in use of all prescription medications among children ages 0 to 19 years, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found an overall decrease in use of any medication between 1999-2002 and 2011-2014. The results were based on responses of more than 38,000 children to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional survey designed to monitor the health and nutritional status of Americans.
While use of asthma medication, ADHD medication, and contraceptives increased among certain groups during the study period, use of antibiotics, antihistamines, and upper respiratory combination medications decreased. Overall antibiotic use in children and adolescents decreased from 8.4% to 4.5%, with specific reductions in cephalosporins, amoxicillin, and amoxicillin-clavulanate. Decreases were significant in all age groups except children aged 2 to 5 years.
The authors say the study adds nationally age-specific trends for common individual antibiotic classes and will inform CDC efforts to promote awareness of antibiotic resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic prescribing.
May 15 JAMA abstract
Trial finds 7 days of antibiotics for kidney infections non-inferior to 14 days
Researchers in India report that stopping effective non-fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotic treatment at day 7 is non-inferior to continued treatment until day 14 in patients hospitalized with severe kidney infection, according to a study yesterday in PLoS One.
From March 2015 through August 2016, the researchers randomly allocated 54 patients with acute pyelonephritis (APN) on day 7 of effective treatment with non-FQ antibiotics; 27 patients were randomized to truncated treatment and 27 to continued treatment to day 14. In all, 41 patients (76%) received amikacin-based treatment. The primary outcome was retreatment for recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) up to 6 weeks after completion of antibiotic treatment, with a pre-specified non-inferiority margin of 15%. Secondary outcomes included duration of hospital stay, antibiotic consumption per patient, and the presence of asymptomatic bacteriuria at week 1 and week 6 after treatment.
During the 6-week follow-up period, no patient in the truncated treatment arm required retreatment, while one patient in continued treatment arm was retreated for recurrent UTI. The difference (90% CI) in retreatment between the trial arms was -3.7%, and the upper bound of the difference (6.15%) was well below the pre-specified non-inferiority margin. In addition, patients in the truncated treatment arm had significantly shorter hospital stays (8 vs. 14 days) and consumed fewer antibiotics (8.4 vs. 17.4 defined daily doses). There was no significant difference in the presence of asymptomatic bacteriuria between the two arms at 6 weeks.
"We found that truncating the effective non-FQ antibiotic treatment at Day 7 is good enough for hospitalized patients without features of severe urosepsis and underlying urogenital tract abnormalities," the authors write. "Such a strategy could substantially cut down antibiotic consumption and shorten hospital stays in these patients."
May 16 PLoS One study