What is antimicrobial resistance – also known as “AMR”?
Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, happens when pathogenic microbes such as bacteria, fungi and viruses develop a strong resistance to the drugs and treatments designed to eliminate them, including medications like antibiotics, antivirals and antifungals.
Often called “superbugs”, these pathogens can cause severe and deadly infections that can’t be treated with existing drugs. A 2021 report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, estimated that an average of 1700 deaths in Australia could be directly attributed to AMR, and nearly 8000 deaths were associated with AMR. That’s more than 20 deaths in Australia every day – about the same number of players as in an AFL team (including those on the bench). Even when not fatal, resistant infections can severely impact a person’s quality of life.
What causes AMR?
Antimicrobials work by targeting essential processes and structures that microbes need to survive. By putting these processes under this pressure, the microbes are constantly evolving to strengthen themselves and evade antimicrobial attack, and eventually develop resistance.
The rapid rise of AMR is largely driven by the overuse and misuse of antimicrobials in healthcare, agriculture and environmental settings. This is because often their misuse sees the strongest, most resistant microbes survive the attack and go on to multiply and pass on their resistance traits. The rise of AMR infections is particularly problematic in areas where access to healthcare is limited, such as in conflict zones, rural areas, and low-socioeconomic areas. Climate change is also contributing to the spread of resistant microbes.
All of these scenarios have seen the rise of “superbugs” such as “Golden Staph” (Staphylococcus aureus) and e.Coli (Escherichia coli), with some strains having developed such strong defences that they cannot be killed even by the most potent, last-resort antibiotics.
How can we combat AMR?
AMR is a complicated issue which needs to be approached from multiple angles. At LIMS, we are taking a multidisciplinary approach to find and develop new, sustainable antimicrobial treatments, support existing treatments, and to more accurately, easily, and cheaply detect AMR infections.
Our research includes:
- Phages and parasitic bacteria
Phages are viruses which eat bacteria, while parasitic bacteria infect their own kind. Neither target human cells, and they only attack specific bacteria, which means they could be used to develop precision treatments for particular types of diseases. - Antimicrobial peptides and defensins
Many organisms, from humans and animals to plants, produce short proteins called “peptides” which help defend against infectious diseases. Our researchers are investigating how we could harness peptides from nature to develop new treatments that defend us against bacteria and fungi, and also how we could create new peptides which are more effective at attacking bacteria, currently resistant to antibiotics. - Disarming bacteria
Disease-causing bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, deploy an arsenal of toxins and molecular weapons to damage our cells and make us sick. We are investigating how to neutralise these molecular weapons to give our immune system and antibiotics extra time to clear infections and improve treatment outcomes.
In the future, we will look to apply our expertise in biosensor research to develop devices that can detect AMR bugs and antibiotic contamination in both healthcare and the environment. We will also explore new immunological approaches to help our bodies better defend themselves against resistant pathogens.
What impact could combatting AMR have?
Modern medicine relies on effective antimicrobial drugs – and not just to treat infection. These drugs also make other medical processes safer. Childbirth and maternal care, dentistry, surgery and even cancer treatments such as chemotherapy are all made safe and possible thanks to antimicrobials. If AMR continues to rise, we could be plunged back into the pre-antibiotic era where even minor injuries and infections become life-threatening and routine medical care becomes high-risk.
The effects of AMR would also reach far beyond healthcare. Modern agriculture could be impacted by the death of livestock and loss of crops due to infection, which in turn would threaten food supply. Without effective antimicrobial treatments, waste management and sanitation systems could also become an issue, making us unable to control disease which could spread throughout communities and in ecosystems.
By finding new, long-lasting ways to combat AMR we can avoid this fate, and preserve a world where humans, animals and the environment remain protected from deadly pathogens.
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