Everyone is if not partially, completely alarmed when it comes to pathogens. No one would like to succumb to any form of ailments hence the need for updates concerning our health.
The Ministry of Health,Ghana has therefore released a list of antimicrobial resistant pathogens they claim are of priority because these pathogens can easily cause an outbreaks of diseases across the country.
What makes the list important?
The list must be treated with importance because it is first of its kind ever published by World Health Organization (WHO). The published list contains names of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” which is catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
What’s the impact of the list?
The list was documented and published in hopes of creating a bid to guide and promote research and development of new antibiotics which is part of WHO’s efforts to address growing global resistance to antimicrobial medicines and its harmful implications.
According to the WHO report, the list highlights in particular the threat of gram-negative bacteria that were resistant to multiple antibiotics of high quality and known for its excellent bacteriocidal effects.
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What are the findings supporting the list?
The report also indicates that the bacteria has built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment and could pass along genetic material that allowed other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well.
What are the categories of the list?
The WHO list is divided into three categories according to the urgency of need for new antibiotics which are
- Critical priority
- High priority
- Medium priority
Critical priority
The critical priority list contains multidrug resistant bacteria that pose a particular threat in hospitals, nursing homes, and among patients whose care required devices such as ventilators and blood catheters.
They can cause severe and often deadly infections such as bloodstream infections and pneumonia and are resistant to a large number of antibiotics, including carbapenems and third generation cephalosporins—the best available antibiotics for treating multi-drug resistant bacteria.
The bacteria are;
- Acinetobacter baumannii
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Enterobacteriaceae
High priority
The of the high priority category contains other increasingly drug-resistant bacteria that cause more common diseases such as gonorrhoea and food poisoning.The bacteria were stated to be resistant to vancomycin,nethicillin,clarithromycin and fluoroquinolone drugs.
The list includes;
- Enterococcus faecium
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Helicobacter pylori
- Campylobacter
- Salmonella spp
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Medium priority
Pathogens listed under this category are mostly pneumonia causative bacteria. They were resistant to penicillin,ampicillin and fluoroquinolone.
The list of bacteria are;
- Streptococcus pneumoniae
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Shigella spp.
The list of pathogens and their diseases have be provided in hope that the ordinary shall be mindful of their health and be cautious when dealing with activities that can cause such diseases.
