The
class of chemicals characterized as biocides are used in all parts of society
from home to hospital, to farms and industry. The presence of biocides selects
for genes in microorganisms that can protect against their lethal effects.
These biocide resistance genes are often the same genes as antibiotic
resistance genes (i.e. cross-resistance), or they can be co-located on
plasmids, for example, which means when biocides are present the microorganism
will also co-select for antibiotic resistance genes (i.e. co-resistance).
Dr. Andrew C
Singer has written an interesting blog post on antimicrobial resistance. Here
is an extract:
“The
problem with antimicrobial resistance (AMR), globally, is the combination of:
1) increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance; 2) rapid spread of AMR due to
global travel; 3) antibiotic misuse; and 4) too few new antimicrobials in development.
National, regional and global AMR Action Plans have been drafted to tackle many
of these problems. Thorough reviews, such as the O’Neill AMR Reviews,
provide a useful overview of these challenges and some mitigation measures.
However, symptomatic of the O’Neill Reviews and AMR Action Plans is their under appreciation of the
role that the environment plays in the selection, spread and transmission of
AMR. Discussions of the environment are typically limited to the pharmaceutical
manufacturing plants as a source of antibiotics and the role that sewage and
farm run-off can play in dissemination of antibiotics. The discussions on these
issues are superficial and narrow in scope.
Current
AMR Action Plans and the O’Neill Reviews see antibiotics as the primary driver
of AMR; hence, all mitigating measures are focused solely on reducing their use
and release into the environment. This vision of the challenge of AMR is not
helpful as it omits other AMR drivers that could be, on their own, more
important than antibiotics for selecting, maintaining and spreading AMR in the
environment, let alone as a collective group of AMR drivers.”
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle
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