Antibiotic Resistance

• Context (DTE|DTE): Roche, a Swiss multinational healthcare company, has discovered a new class of antibiotics (Zosurabalpin) effective against gram-negative bacteria.
• Zosurabalpin exhibits strong activity against various species of Acinetobacter that cause pneumonia and sepsis, particularly Carbapenem-resistant A baumannii (CRAB).
• It is considered a significant development since no antibiotic has been introduced in the last 50 years against gram-negative bacteria.

About Gram-negative bacteria

Acinetobacter

• Acinetobacter belongs to the Gram-negative group of bacteria.
• These bacteria are ubiquitous in nature and can be found in soil, water, and various environments.
• It causes a variety of diseases, including lung infections (“pneumonia”), sepsis and blood, wound, or urinary tract infections.

Carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB)

• An example of harmful Acinetobacter strain is CRAB.
• It has gained attention due to its ability to develop resistance to multiple antibiotics.
• CRAB is classified as a priority 1 (critical) pathogen by the WHO. Other drug-resistant forms of bacteria are Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae.
• According to the 2019 report of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on antibiotic resistance, CRAB was responsible for killing 700 people in 2017 and added about $281 million in healthcare costs.

Sepsis

• Sepsis is a life-threatening condition arising from the body’s overreactive response to an infection, leading it to injure its own tissues and organs.
• Bacterial infections cause most cases of sepsis. Sepsis can also result from other infections, including viral infections, such as COVID-19 or influenza, or fungal infections.

National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) The Institute is under the administrative control of the Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Institute has its headquarters in Delhi. It functions as the nodal agency in the country for disease surveillance, facilitating prevention and control of communicable diseases. It also deals with Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR). Global Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) It is developed by WHO. Global-PPS creates global awareness about antibiotic use and resistance.