Global burden of bacterial infections and drug resistance

Abstract

Except for some information on the relative frequencies of bacterial infections and the resulting socioeconomic burden in different regions, the burden of bacterial infections and drug resistance in many parts of the world is relatively unknown. Although there are no reliable data on its incidence and evolution, with variable estimates depending on the infectious agent and the development index of the locality, thousands of new cases of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections are diagnosed each year and are increasingly recognized as a global public health problem. Although previously thought to be rare in some communities, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections and antibiotic resistance have recently been found to be common, and the situation has worsened since the HIV-AIDS pandemic about three decades ago. Bacterial infections such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Helicobacter pylori, Gram-positive infections, Pseudomonas, Entrerobacteriacae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Syphilis, Chlamydia are becoming increasingly difficult to manage as bacteria have developed or acquired resistance to antibiotics. This leads to increased length of hospitalization, the need for more expensive antibiotics, and increased morbidity and mortality from the causative bacteria. Bacterial infections result in a high economic burden to the patient, his family, the community, and the country. This book chapter describes the incidence and the burden of bacterial infections, as well as the global concern in bacterial drug resistance, and finally the updates on the management of some bacterial infections.