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A recent study found a shocking statistic about antimicrobial resistance and mortality rate. Based on accumulated data, scientists find that those suffering from resistant bacteremia have a 10% increased likelihood of death when compared to patients without antimicrobial resistant strains.
What is antimicrobial resistance? How can you help prevent antimicrobial resistance? And what the heck does this have to do with food poisoning?
Let’s explore!
A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. They gathered data from 114 hospital, community, and public health laboratories in Ontario to develop a cohort of patients with positive blood cultures from the years 2017 through 2021.
A total of 83,962 cases were documented in the studies. Researchers identified 30 pathogens with 11 eligible pathogen-antibiotic combinations. One of the key data points they were looking at was how many patients died within 30 days. A marker they dubbed “30-day mortality.”
The overall 30-day mortality rate was 17.1%.
Some of the most common pathogens observed were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella spp.
Escherichia coli had the highest 30-day mortality rate, with 30.8% of patients with these infections dying within 30-days of infection.
Staphylococcus aureus had a 30-day mortality rate of 17.6% and Klebsiella spp had a 10.0% 30-day mortality rate.
Overall, of the 110 pathogen-antibiotic combinations observed, instances of infections with antimicrobial resistance increased the 30-day mortality by 47%.
Considering the average age of the patient was 70 years, and adjusting for contributing factors like sex, healthcare exposures, other health conditions, and co-resistance, researchers indicate a 10% increase in 30-day mortality risk for antimicrobial resistance bacteremia infections.
It seems obvious that infections resistant to our available tools to kill them are serious. However, crunching the numbers and pointing out the ultimate failure of modern medicine drives the point home.
Antimicrobial resistance is a big deal and it is everyone’s responsibility.
“These results suggest that treatment adequacy could be an important mechanism leading to [antimicrobial resistance]-associated mortality, and that the mortality burden will increase if resistance rates to our most common treatment agents increase,” the study authors wrote. “Ongoing surveillance and global collaboration is needed to better document and limit the impacts of antimicrobial resistance.”
Antimicrobial resistance is the phenomenon in which bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time in response to medicines. They begin to evolve ways to evade treatment, making infections even more dangerous. Becoming a type of “super bug.”
Medicines become ineffective. Infections run rampant. There is an increased risk of spreading these resistant infections to others.
People die.
It is a problem for the doctors attempting to treat these patients. It is a problem for society, because more and more strains are becoming resistant to currently available medicines. And it is a problem for the unfortunate people who are sick with these deadly infections.
Certain bacteria have been identified as “emerging foodborne pathogens.”
These include:
Reports indicate that all 13 of these foodborne pathogens have at least some strains of antimicrobial resistance observed.
Some are even resistant to multiple drugs or in a steady state of declining susceptibility.
Many are already resistant to β-lactams, sulfonamides, tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones.
Certain groups of people are more susceptible to foodborne illness. They are more likely to become sick if exposed, and experience more severe illness if infected.
In some cases, these individuals are the exception when it comes to prescribing antimicrobial treatment.
These include:
What does this have to do with food poisoning. This is, after all, a food poisoning and food safety awareness blog.
It does come full circle. I promise!
The best way to avoid contributing to antimicrobial resistance from foodborne illness is to prevent the illness from happening in the first place.
Wash your hands, keep the kitchen and workspace clean and free from contamination, wash fruits and vegetables, keep raw foods separate to start with.
Also, keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, cook food to appropriate minimum internal temperature and refrigerate leftovers promptly.
Many cases of foodborne illness are mild in normally healthy people. These people can often recover on their own without the need for medical intervention.
Of course, anyone with severe illness or serious complications should seek medical attention. But most people will not need this. For the most part, rest and hydration are the most successful treatments.
Receiving unnecessary antibiotic treatment for infections that are either unlikely to benefit from treatment or for which antibiotics will not work contributes to antimicrobial resistance. Also, improper use of antibiotics or antimicrobials, such as improper use or failing to complete treatment protocols can also contribute to antimicrobial resistance.
It may be tempting to request antibiotic treatment for food poisoning. Food poisoning is awful. Nobody wants to have to make the decision of which end of the body gets the toilet when both are active at the same time. We would all want relief and treatment in those situations.
Some doctors stand strong as good stewards of antimicrobial use. Others may not.
It is important to understand when antimicrobials are necessary. And when they are not.
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “New Study Finds Antimicrobial Resistance Makes Infections 10 Times More Deadly,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)
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