Pigs can pass deadly super bugs to people, research reveals | Antibiotics

Scientists have found evidence that dangerous versions of superbugs can spread from pigs to humans. This finding underscores the fear that intensive use of antibiotics on farms will lead to the spread of microorganisms resistant to them.

The discovery of the link was made by Semeh Bejaoui and Dorte Frees of the University of Copenhagen, and Soren Persson of the Statens Serum Institute in Denmark, with a focus on super bugs. Clostridium difficileThis is considered one of the major antibiotic resistance threats in the world.

“Our findings are That’s hard It’s a repository of antimicrobial resistance genes that can be exchanged between animals and humans, “said Bejawi, who will present her study at the European Clinical Conference. Microbiology & Lisbon Sunday Infectious Diseases. “This surprising finding suggests that resistance to antibiotics may be more widespread than previously thought, confirming the link in the resistance chain from livestock to humans.”

That’s hard It infects the human intestine and is resistant to all but three antibiotics used today. Some strains contain genes that produce toxins that can cause intestinal inflammation and life-threatening diarrhea in the elderly and inpatients. This bacterium is considered one of the greatest threats of antibiotic resistance in developed countries. In the United States, it caused an estimated 223,900 infections and 12,800 deaths in 2017, costing the healthcare system more than $ 1 billion.

Doctors and scientists say overprescribing antibiotics for trivial complaints and infections caused by viruses that do not respond to antibiotics can lead to increased resistance to this very important class of drugs. I have been warning you for many years.

In addition, they emphasized that the problem was intensified by Widespread use of antibiotics on farms administered to animals – Mostly pigs and poultry, but sometimes cattle – to keep the disease in a poor and basic condition.

Result is Rapid increase in antimicrobial resistance In the world. Antibiotics that were once effective can no longer fight common infectious diseases. This is a global health hazard compiled by Margaret Chan, a former director of the World Health Organization. “Antibacterial resistance is increasing in Europe and elsewhere in the world,” she said. “We are losing front-line antibiotics. Alternative treatments are more expensive, more toxic, have a much longer duration of treatment, and may require treatment in the intensive care unit.”

According to the Union for International Cancer Control, it is estimated that about 750,000 people die each year from drug-resistant infections, reaching 10 million by 2050 and costing more than $ 100 million in global medical services. There is concern that it will take.

These fears have led to pressure on doctors to reduce antibiotic prescriptions and slow the rise in antibiotic resistance. However, medical officials point out that two-thirds of antibiotics are never used by humans and are given as agricultural additives. This is done to prevent disease or infection in animals that are otherwise kept in a condition that can cause the disease.

In their study, the team led by Bejaoui That’s hard With livestock. In this case, pigs were studied and the results were compared to clinical isolates from Danish hospital patients to see if there was a human concordance.Samples were screened for the presence of That’s hard We then used gene sequencing to determine if they carry toxin and drug resistance genes.

“We found that the strains isolated in pigs were genetically identical to the strains detected in humans during the same period,” Bejaoui said. “We still need to show that the strain was inherited from pigs to humans, but our research reveals the conditions under which farms using antibiotics allow resistant strains to thrive. It is producing and these are ultimately infecting humans.

“Of particular concern is the large reservoir of genes that confer resistance to the antibiotic aminoglycoside. That’s hard It is inherently resistant. Therefore, it serves to spread these genes to other susceptible species. This study provides more evidence for the evolutionary pressures associated with the use of antimicrobial agents in livestock to select human pathogens with dangerous resistance. “