Bacterial infections are the second leading cause of death worldwide, after heart disease, shows a very large study published Tuesday in the Lancetciting Staphylococcus aureus and pneumococcus among the deadliest bacteria.
This study selected thirty bacteria, the most commonly implicated in infections, and evaluated how many deaths were associated with them.
These measurements are made as part of the Global burden of disease. This vast research programme, funded by the Bill Gates Foundation, is of an unprecedented scale, involving several thousand researchers in most countries of the world.
In the end, “deaths associated with these bacteria constitute the second cause of death worldwide” after coronary diseases, among which heart attacks stand out, the authors conclude.
An “urgent priority” in public health
Of the thirty selected bacteria, five alone account for more than half of the deaths: staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, pneumococcus, Klebsellia pneumoniae and bacillus pyocyanin.
Staphylococcus aureus is “the leading bacterial cause of death in 135 countries,” according to the study. However, among the very young (under five years of age), pneumococcal infections are the deadliest.
For the researchers, these results illustrate how bacterial infections are an “urgent priority” in public health.
They ask for work on the prevention of infections, a better use of antibiotics (particularly to avoid resistance phenomena) and a more effective use of vaccination.
Source: BFM TV
