One in eight recorded deaths in 2019 is related to bacterial infections, which were the world’s second leading cause of death that year, a study published Monday in the journal of medicine reveals. lancet🇧🇷
In that year, 7.7 million deaths (13.6% of the total) were related to 33 common bacterial infections, with more than half of the cases related to just five bacteria (S. aureus, E. coli, S. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa), shows the study.
“These new data reveal for the first time the magnitude of the global public health challenge posed by bacterial infections.”said Christopher Murray, co-author of the study and director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, quoted in the report’s release.
The calculations were made “for all ages and genders” in 204 countries and territories, with the researchers using 343 million “individual and isolated pathogen records to estimate deaths associated with each pathogen and the type of infection responsible.”
the new study “provides the first global estimates of mortality associated with 33 common bacterial pathogens and the 11 major types of infections – known as infectious syndromes – leading to death from septicemia”🇧🇷
More than 75% of those 7.7 million deaths were due to three syndromes: lower respiratory infections, bloodstream infections, and peritoneal and intra-abdominal infections.
As for the five bacteria responsible for more than half of the deaths, the most important is S. aureus (1.1 million deaths), followed by E. coli (950 thousand deaths), S. pneumoniae (829 thousand), K. pneumoniae (790,000) and P. aeruginosa (559,000). These pathogens caused “a similar number of female and male deaths”.
But death rates based on age and the type of deadliest pathogens vary by location.
Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest death rate (230 deaths per 100,000 population), while the highest-income super-region (which includes countries in Western Europe, North America and Australasia) had the lowest (52 deaths per 100,000 population).
By country, the Central African Republic had the highest rate (394 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants) and Iceland the lowest (35.7 per 100,000).
According to the study, S. aureus was the leading cause of bacterial death in 135 countries, followed by E. coli (37 countries), S. pneumoniae (24 countries), and K. pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii (4 countries each).
The pathogens associated with most deaths also vary by age.
S. aureus was associated with most deaths in adults over 15 years of age and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi was associated with most deaths in children aged five to 14 years.
The pathogen associated with the highest number of neonatal deaths was K. pneumoniae, while S. pneumoniae was deadliest in children under the age of five, excluding newborns, the study found.
The researchers point out that while many estimates exist for pathogens such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), calculations regarding the health burden of bacterial pathogens have so far been limited to a handful of specific species and types. infection or targeted. only on certain populations.
In 2019, S. aureus and E. coli were associated with more deaths than HIV/AIDS, but analyzes show that $42 billion (about €41 billion) was spent researching this virus, while those related to E. coli 800 received. million (781.4 million euros).
The study admits that the differences may be due to the lack of data on the global importance of those infections.
“Until now, there is a lack of country-level estimates for parts of the world where people are most affected by bacterial infections.”said Authia Gray, co-author of the study and a researcher at IHME.
“These new data can be used as guidance to address the disproportionate burden of bacterial infections in low-middle-income countries and could ultimately help save lives and prevent people from losing years of their lives to disease”advanced.
The reduction of bacterial infections must become a global public health priority, the study emphasizes, as it is essential to build stronger health systems, with greater laboratory capacity for diagnosis, the application of control measures to reduce the burden of the diseases they cause, reduce and optimize the use of antibiotics.
“There are effective antimicrobials for all 33 bacteria studied”indicates that progressing “much of the disproportionately high (infection) burden in low-middle-income countries can be attributed to insufficient access to effective antimicrobials, weak health systems and inadequate prevention programs”🇧🇷
For researchers, “essential prevention strategies” include a “improved access to clean water and sanitation, increased vaccination coverage, development of new vaccines”it is also important to improve access to the right antibiotic for each infection.
For bacteria for which there is no vaccine, their development is crucial, they stress, also pointing out the importance of developing new and effective antibiotics to cope “The Growing Threat” antimicrobial resistance and bacterial infections in general.
Source: DN
