Various pathogens increasingly becoming resistant to critically important antimicrobials: ICMR report

September 30, 2023
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN Topics

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Various pathogens increasingly becoming resistant to critically important antimicrobials: ICMR report

Subject: Science and Tech

Section: Biotech

Context:

The Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Surveillance Network of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released its annual report for 2022.
This is the sixth report which sheds light on the evolving landscape of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the country.

Key findings of the report:

A trend of declining susceptibility towards critically important antimicrobials (CIA).
- CIAs and Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials (HPCIA) are the categories of antimicrobial agents identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) based on their importance in human medicine and the urgency to preserve their effectiveness.
- Erythromycin, an antibiotic from the class of macrolides and ketolides, is classified as an HPCIA.
Escherichia coli was identified as the most commonly occurring pathogen, followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Staphylococcus aureus.

Pathogens	Key findings
Escherichia coli	Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacteria of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. It is identified as the most commonly occurring pathogen whose susceptibility has increased to several CIAs.. Decline in susceptibility of E coli to fluoroquinolones, cephalosporins, penicillins and carbapenems.
A baumannii	Acinetobacter baumannii is a typically short, almost round, rod-shaped (coccobacillus) Gram-negative bacterium. It can be an opportunistic pathogen in humans, affecting people with compromised immune systems, and is becoming increasingly important as a hospital-derived (nosocomial) infection. A baumannii was identified as the most common isolate in ICU.
K pneumoniae	Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, non-motile, encapsulated, lactose-fermenting, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium. Found in the normal flora of the mouth, skin, and intestines Exhibited low susceptibility percentages to many CIAs.
P aeruginosa	Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common encapsulated, Gram-negative, aerobic–facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium that can cause disease in plants and animals, including humans. A species of considerable medical importance, P. aeruginosa is a multidrug resistant pathogen recognized for its ubiquity, its intrinsically advanced antibiotic resistance mechanisms, and its association with serious illnesses – hospital-acquired infections such as ventilator-associated pneumonia and various sepsis syndromes.
S aureus	Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive spherically shaped bacterium, a member of the Bacillota, and is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is becoming increasingly challenging due to the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains including Methicillin-Resistant S aureus (MRSA).
Salmonella typhi	Salmonella enterica typhi is a gram-negative bacterium that is responsible for typhoid fever. It exhibited a resistance rate of more than 95 per cent against the fluoroquinolones.

Misuse of antibiotics:

A 2021 report by Delhi-based think tank, Centre for Science and Environment, highlighted the misuse of several antibiotics from these classes in food-producing animals in India. It identified 27 different types of CIAs from seven classes, including macrolides and ketolides, third generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones, which were found to be used in dairy, poultry and aquaculture for both therapeutic and non-therapeutic purposes.