Antimicrobial Resistance: Causes And Consequences

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered as one of the most important threats for public health with global dimensions. The aim of this paper is to analyze the causes and consequences of antimicrobial resistance and the actions which should be taken in order to reduce this threat. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics are believed to be responsible for the emergence of resistant pathogens. These occur not only in human medicine but also in veterinary medicine, animal husbandry and plant production. Another factor which contributes to the global spread of resistant pathogens is low sanitation, mainly encountered in low and middle income countries. However, low quality infection control programs and the lack of antibiotic stewardship programs also contribute to the dissemination of resistant strains. Other factors which were shown to have impact are population movement, medical tourism, intensive trade exchange and climate change. The consequences of increased resistance such as medical, microbiological, epidemiological, psychological and economic are also discussed. Finally, several documents of WHO and European Union underlying “One health” approach in the combat of resistance as well as international projects addressing problem of AMR are described. The importance of broad education campaigns targeting medical professionals, health care decision makers and general public in combat of AMR such as European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EU) and International Antibiotics Awareness Week (WHO) are also discussed.

1. Introduction 2. The epidemiological situation of resistance in Poland in comparison with EU countries 3. Causes of the rise and dissemination of antibiotic resistance. 4. Consequences of increasing AMR. 5. What actions have been taken in the fight against antibiotic resistance and what are their results. 6. Summary