Urgent warning as common antibiotics are ‘no longer effective’ treating children – fuelling a surge in deaths
ANTIBIOTICS used to treat common and even life threatening infections in babies and children are ‘no longer effective’.
Aussie scientists discovered that medicines recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) work in fewer that 50 per cent of pneumonia, sepsis and meningitis cases in children.
They put it down to antibiotic resistance, which the WHO has said is one of the 10 major public health threats facing humanity.
It happens when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them.
Antibiotic-resistant (AMR) superbugs killed an estimated 1.27million people in 2019.
The United Nations predicts it will cause up to 10million deaths by 2025.
AMR is particularly detrimental to infants, as new antibiotics are less likely to be trialled on or given to children.
The study, published in Lancet South East Asia, focused on the lack of effectiveness of antibiotics in children and babies.
To better understand the scale of antimicrobial resistance, University of Sydney scientists analysed 6,648 cases from 11 countries in the decade to 2021.
While the biggest concerns revealed by the study related to the Asia-Pacific regions, ceftriaxone, an antibiotic widely used by the NHS, did not turn out well.
They found the antibiotic, used to treat infections in children like sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis, is only effective in one-third of cases.
Globally, around three million newborns contract sepsis each year, with 570,000 babies dying, many due to a lack of drugs able to treat resistant bacteria.
Ceftriaxone is also used to treat more common conditions in children like skin, kidney and urinary tract infections.
Gentamicin, another antibiotic used by the NH, was potentially effective in just 45 per cent of all newborn sepsis and meningitis cases.
The study’s lead author, Dr Phoebe Williams, a paediatrician, said: “Antibiotic resistance is rising more rapidly than we realise.
“We urgently need new solutions to stop invasive multidrug-resistant infections and the needless deaths of thousands of children each year.”
Senior author Paul Turner added: “This study reveals important problems regarding the availability of effective antibiotics to treat serious infections in children.”