The spread of drug resistance is causing concern among experts. “We are currently in the process of once again losing the achievements of modern medicine and going back to the time before the discovery of penicillin,” said the president of the German Paul Ehrlich Society for Infection Therapy (PEG), Mathias Pletz .
The effectiveness of antibiotics is increasingly compromised. There is a need for cautious use of antibiotics and constant new resistance-reducing agents.
35,000 deaths in the EU due to antibiotic-resistant pathogens
In the European Union alone, 35,000 people die every year from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens, according to the EU health authority ECDC. According to the Robert Koch Institute, antibiotics do not kill all bacteria when used; the resistant bacteria survive and continue to multiply. It was said that the development of resistance cannot be prevented, but only delayed.
New developments are not profitable for pharmaceuticals
According to the PEG, only twelve new antibiotics have been approved since 2017. Ten of them belonged to classes against which resistance mechanisms had already developed. The problem is that pharmaceutical companies are increasingly stopping the production of antibiotics because there is no benefit. There is therefore an urgent need for economic incentives from the government.
Source: Krone
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