Utilizing Pandemic-Era Genomic Labs to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

Sub: Sci

Sec: Health

Why in News

Chairperson of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, highlighted the potential use of genomic laboratories established during the COVID-19 pandemic to monitor and control Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

Key Points:

Genomic testing labs, set up to detect COVID-19 variants, can now be repurposed to monitor AMR. By examining water discharged by pharmaceutical industries and hospitals, data on AMR levels can be collected.
Testing effluents and wastewater can provide insights into antibiotic use and resistance patterns, aiding in effective AMR monitoring.
India faces a high neonatal mortality rate due to drug-resistant infections, with approximately 30,000 newborn deaths annually in intensive care units.
Routine infection surveillance in hospitals is crucial, with results needing to be publicly available for transparency.
India witnessed unique AMR challenges during the pandemic, including cases of ‘black fungus’ linked to steroid overuse.

About Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR):

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication previously used to treat them. It is also known as antibiotic resistance.
Antimicrobials – including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitic– are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.
The WHO defines antimicrobial resistance as a microorganism’s resistance to an antimicrobial drug that was once able to treat an infection by that microorganism.
The resistance to antimicrobials is a natural biological phenomenon. However, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics accelerates the development of AMR.
Microbial resistance to antibiotics has made it harder to treat infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis (TB), blood poisoning (septicaemia) and several food-borne diseases.