Bacteriophage therapy and s uperbug infections
Oliver J. Xue
Hobbes clearly proves, that every creature Lives in a state of war by nature. ………………………………… So, naturalists observe, a flea Hath smaller fleas that on him prey; And these have smaller still to bite ‘em, And so proceed ad infinitum.
Jonathan Swift, On Poetry: A Rhapsody
Introduction
Evolution is clearly not something that applies to life as we actually see it every day. Perhaps, you might have surmised, the evolutionary power of nature resides in the distant wild. However, as nature poses serious challenges to us, particularly in the form of diseases, the solution, in truth, also arises from nature. The identity of the smaller fleas, in this case, is the bacteriophage. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microorganisms develop resistance and no longer respond to existing antimicrobial drugs, mainly antibiotics, as a result of natural selection and the subsequent evolution of pathogens. As AMR undergoes unprecedented surges globally in recent decades and gradually becomes an insurmountable challenge to our healthcare systems, there has been clear evidence that our increasing over-reliance on these prescribed medications is leading us into an awkward situation with limited alternatives available. Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens are often referred to as superbugs. Pathogens’ ability to evolve appears to preclude the sustainable development of efficacious interventions for a broad range of human diseases and pose a fundamental long-term threat to our traditional medical treatments, such as antibiotic therapy. In 2020, the UN General Assembly scheduled to convene a high-level interactive dialogue on AMR, thus signifying the critical need to contain, control, and mitigate the deteriorating situation pragmatically. AMR also challenges the effective delivery of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), which are a UN initiative. Currently, at least 700,000 people succumb to drug-resistant infections each year. Based on the scenarios of rising drug resistance, experts have estimated that by 2050, the burden of AMR could rise to 10 million deaths per year and damage to the economy as catastrophic as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, at an economic cost of $100 trillion.
1 The number of antibiotic-resistant infections has increased by at least a third in England since 2015. 2
Meanwhile, cancer has been another deadly disease. In 2050, an estimated 33.7 million new cancers will be diagnosed worldwide, with more than 8,200,000 people predicted to lose their battle to cancer. 3 Indeed, cancer is one of the most challenging diseases not only due to its unique individual identity and
1 High-Level Interactive Dialogue on Antimicrobial Resistance 2020. 2 Contained and controlled: the UK’s 20 -year vision for antimicrobial resistance , 2019. 3 Pilleron et al. 2020.
254
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator