There is an increasing burden of antimicrobial resistance to millions of deaths worldwide. Silent epidemics are an event where drugs stop responding to microbials such as bacteria, viruses or fungi that were designed to attack them.

Global researchers called India a hotspot of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), especially due to extensive misuse, easy access and regulatory gaps.

The new data showed that AMR caused the death of 3 million children in 2022 due to infections that were not responding to standard antibiotics.

The report compiled by experts at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Clinton Health Access Initiative in Australia highlighted AMR’s growing global threat and how it is taking toll on children, especially in Africa and Southeast Asia.

AMR occurs when bacteria and other germs develop resistance to drugs and make it more difficult to treat normal infections. In some cases, treatment is impossible.

The WHO has warned of its growing effect on health systems and mortality.

In just three years, researchers discovered ten times the increase in infant deaths associated with AMR.

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections ranging from pneumonia to surgical infections. Due to easy access, antibiotics have been misused and exercised, which has resisted, especially since bacteria developed and drugs did not work.

Researchers stated that the issue deteriorates at a slow rate of new antibiotic discovery, which reduces the number of remedies available as resistance increases.

The report reported that in 2022 alone, more than 7,52,000 children in Southeast Asia and 6,59,000 children in Africa died of AMR-Linked complications.

The study also highlighted the use of ‘watch antibiotics’ and ‘reserved antibiotics’.

A word used to describe antibiotics used for severe cases ‘Watch Antibiotics’ increased to 126% in Africa and 160% in Southeast Asia between 2019 and 2021. The use of “reserve antibiotics”, which are resistant to many drugs, have increased to 125% and 45% respectively.

Excessive use of these powerful antibiotics resisted against them, causing some treatment options for multidrig-resistant infections.

In many affected areas, factors such as crowded hospitals, poor hygiene, limited access to diagnosis and weak antimicrobial stevadships worsen the crisis.

These conditions fuel both the proliferation of resistant pathogens and misuse of antibiotics. If the current trends continue, the treatment failures and already high mortality will proceed, especially where access to alternative care is limited in the study.

Authors suggested using a “health” approach to spread infections between people, animals and environment.

He also emphasized how hospitals, especially children treat children, use antibiotics wisely.

Finally, he recommended to establish a clear national rules so that the doctor could use regular health data to direct the responsible antibiotic use.