Epidemiology

"The development of antibiotics is considered among the most important advances of modern science. Antibiotics have saved millions of lives. However, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens this progress and presents significant risks to human health. ... The increase in AMR has been driven by a diverse set of factors, including inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and sales, use of antibiotics outside of the health care sector, and genetic factors intrinsic to bacteria. The problem has been exacerbated by inadequate economic incentives for pharmaceutical development of new antimicrobial agents. A range of specific AMR concerns, including carbapenem- and colistin-resistant gram-negative organisms, pose a clinical challenge. Alternative approaches to address the AMR threat include new methods of antibacterial drug identification and strategies that neutralize virulence factors."

"Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has developed as one of the major urgent threats to public health causing serious issues to successful prevention and treatment of persistent diseases. In spite of different actions taken in recent decades to tackle this issue, the trends of global AMR demonstrate no signs of slowing down. Misusing and overusing different antibacterial agents in the health care setting as well as in the agricultural industry are considered the major reasons behind the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. In addition, the spontaneous evolution, mutation of bacteria, and passing the resistant genes through horizontal gene transfer are significant contributors to antimicrobial resistance. Many studies have demonstrated the disastrous financial consequences of AMR including extremely high healthcare costs due to an increase in hospital admissions and drug usage."

"Let's avoid those unnecessary antibiotics. Let's not feed the antimicrobial-resistance demon."

"The cost of antimicrobial resistance is immense, both economically as well as for human health and lives. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released a new report (Stemming the superbug tide, 7 Nov 2018), which predicts that 2.4 million people in Europe, North America and Australia will die from infections with resistant microorganisms in the next 30 years and could cost up to US$3.5 billion per year. Southern European countries are predicted to have the highest mortality rate due to resistant infections among countries included in the study. Furthermore, many low and middle-income countries already have high resistance rates, which are predicted to increase disproportionately. For example, in Brazil, Indonesia and Russia 40–60% of infections are already caused by resistant microorganisms, and resistance is predicted to rise 4–7 times faster in these countries than in other OECD countries."

"Herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad."

"Callousness, incompetence, and cynicism — the 's response to the coronavirus has demonstrated all three. Despite the public outcry against the inhuman "herd immunity" strategy and the resulting changes in government policy, major threats to public health, , and s remain."

"The Boris Johnson government's initial response to COVID-19 was the now discredited policy of "herd immunity" — the strategy of letting the virus rip through the population, infecting up to 40 million people, most of whom would recover and then supposedly be immune to the virus. The only problem was that this would have resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths — a prospect the Tories had to abandon in the face of expert denunciation and widespread public outrage."

"According to the , the choice to abandon systematic testing and contract tracing, which were effective in Korea and Taiwan, was a major mistake that contributed to the spread of the virus in virtually every country. The ultimate cause of this alarming delay were strategic choices. [...] Other countries waited far too long to react, largely on the basis of the and crypto-Darwinian strategy of "herd immunity." Boris Johnson's United Kingdom was entirely passive in its initial approach."