Salmonella Shows Antibiotic Resistance on Multiple Continents

Yet another potentially deadly bacteria has raised more concern as it has become resistant to the antibiotics that are supposed to fend it away, a new study alerted.

Caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, the life-threatening typhoid fever is proving to be more than just stubborn against antibiotics. A collaborative team analyzed 1,832 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and identified the H58 clade is causing the strain.

“Multidrug resistant typhoid has been coming and going since the 1970s and is caused by the bacteria picking up novel antimicrobial resistance genes, which are usually lost when we switch to a new drug,” senior author Kathryn Hold, a professor at the University of Melbourne, said in a news release.

As if the recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioning the lack of global efforts against antibiotic resistance was not enough, typhoid has shown to be less sensitive to medications in several countries. H58 transfers have been observed in Asia and Africa over the past 30 years and continues to be an issue.

“Notably, our analysis indicates that H58 lineages are displacing antibiotic-sensitive isolates, transforming the global population structure of this pathogen,” the authors wrote.

Published in Nature Genetics, the authors describe the transmissions as an epidemic. Typhoid infects approximately 30 million people worldwide each year so the evidence showing that it stands up to antibiotics is a major health issue.

While there is a vaccination to prevent the disease, it is not available in many countries.

“H58 Typhi is often resistant to the first-line antimicrobials commonly used to treat the disease,” the statement informed. “And is continuing to evolve as it spreads to new regions and populations, acquiring novel mutations providing resistance to newer antimicrobial agents, such as ciprofloxacin and azithromycin.”

This study shows why time is of the essence when it comes to combating antibiotic resistance. If the deadly bacteria crossed between continents before, there’s a possibility that more patients can be infected.

“These results reinforce the message that bacteria do no obey international borders and any efforts to contain the spread of antimicrobial resistance must be globally coordinated,” one of the authors Stephen Baker, a global health professor at the University of Oxford, said.