The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year at least two million illnesses and 23.000 deaths are caused by drug-resistant bacteria in the United States. What are the main initiatives of the U.S. government to combat the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance, and what are the next steps for 2016? We asked Dr. Michael Bell from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23.000 people die as a direct result of these infections. The various initiatives to react to this phenomenon are based on the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB), published in spring 2015. This plan outlines federal activities over the next five years to prevent outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections, to maintain the efficacy of current and new antibiotics and to develop next-generation diagnostics, antibiotics, vaccines, and other therapeutics, says Michael Bell, Deputy Director of CDC′s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion.
Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die as a direct result of these infections. The various initiatives to react to this phenomenon are based on the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB), published in spring 2015. “This plan outlines federal activities over the next five years to prevent outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections, to maintain the efficacy of current and new antibiotics and to develop next-generation diagnostics, antibiotics, vaccines, and other therapeutics”, says Michael Bell, Deputy Director of CDC′s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion.
The National Targets (by 2020) to reach this aim are ambitious: It aims to reduce by 50% the incidence of overall Clostridium difficile infection compared to estimates from 2011, and by at least 50% overall methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections by 2020 as compared to 2011.
Apart from CARB, the White House hosted the Forum on Antibiotic Stewardship in summer 2015 to bring together more than 100 key human and animal health leaders involved in antibiotic stewardship. “In 2016, CDC will accelerate these activities and release a report about prescribing practices in human medicine”, says Bell. Also in 2016 CDC plans to debut the Antibiotic Patient Safety Atlas, an interactive web platform with open access to antibiotic resistance data.
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