Medical professionals have long been researching whether there exists a potential correlation between antibiotic resistance and malnourishment, especially in children. New findings suggest that this may be true.
Life saving medicines are now becoming ineffective due to anti microbial resistance- a process in which bacteria, fungi, and parasites develop an ability to resist the action of medicine.
Researchers at the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research (IOI) have found strains of several antibiotic resistant bacteria to be spreading rapidly amongst malnourished children under the age of 5 admitted at a hospital facility in Niger. In collaborative efforts with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), researchers analysed over 3,000 rectal swabs from 1,371 children under the age of five being treated for severe malnutrition between 2016 and 2017.
In a publication under The Nature Communications Journal, findings revealed that:
- Over three-quarters of children carried bacteria with genes that could break down commonly used antibiotics.
- One in four children carried bacteria with genes that could confer resistance against some of the most powerful lines of antibiotics.
- More than two-thirds of children who received antibiotics treatments were found to carry antibiotic resistant strains even post-discharge.
- 11% of children were carrying E.coli ST167 strains, which are known to limit the viability of safe treatment options.
These are most commonly results of delayed action and malnourishment which lead to weakened immune systems that allow bacteria to thrive.
If these bacteria remain in the body for extended periods of time, these children and many others could be at severe risk of developing infections that may never respond to antibiotic treatment.