In News:

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), through its Antimicrobial Resistance Research & Surveillance Network (AMRSN) Report 2024, has warned that common infections in India are becoming increasingly difficult to treat due to rapidly rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Routine and even last-line antibiotics are losing effectiveness against widely prevalent hospital pathogens.

Key Findings of AMRSN Report 2024

• Common infections affected: Urinary tract infections (UTIs), pneumonia, sepsis, and diarrhoeal diseases.
• Failing antibiotics:
  • Fluoroquinolones
  • Third-generation cephalosporins
  • Carbapenems (last-line drugs)
  • Piperacillin–tazobactam
• Based on nearly one lakh lab-confirmed samples from major hospitals, drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria dominate hospital infections.

Major Superbugs Identified

• Escherichia coli (E. coli):
  • Leading cause of UTIs, abdominal and bloodstream infections.
  • Shows declining susceptibility even to strong antibiotics.
• Klebsiella pneumoniae:
  • Major cause of pneumonia and sepsis.
  • Resistant to piperacillin–tazobactam in ~75% cases and to carbapenems in most samples.
• Acinetobacter baumannii:
  • Particularly severe in ICUs.
  • Shows ~91% resistance to meropenem, severely limiting treatment options.
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa:
  • Rising resistance, especially in ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Overall, 72% of bloodstream infections and most ventilator-associated pneumonia cases were caused by highly drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria.

Fungal Resistance Trends

• Candida auris: Nearly 10% resistance among isolates.
• Aspergillus species: Around one-third resistant to amphotericin B, a key antifungal drug.

What are Superbugs?

Superbugs are bacteria or fungi resistant to multiple antimicrobial drugs, making routine infections hard or impossible to treat.

Key causes:

• Overuse and misuse of antibiotics
• Incomplete treatment courses
• Excessive use of high-end antibiotics in hospitals
• Gene transfer between microbes

Implications of Rising AMR

• Treatment failure: Doctors are forced to use toxic or expensive drug combinations.
• Higher mortality: ICU infections become life-threatening.
• Longer hospital stays: Increased isolation and healthcare burden.
• Economic impact: Higher treatment costs and productivity losses.
• Public health risk: Routine infections may resemble the pre-antibiotic era in severity.

Significance for India

• Highlights the urgent need for antibiotic stewardship, infection prevention and control (IPC) protocols, and rational prescribing.
• Underlines the importance of regulated antibiotic sales, stronger surveillance, and new drug discovery.
• Signals India’s contribution to the global AMR crisis, threatening progress toward SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being).