Antimicrobial resistance: a global problem
Antibiotic resistance was initially viewed as only being a human
medical problem in hospital-acquired infections, and usually only in
critically ill and immunosuppressed patients. Today, the AMR
phenomena has spread to the point that the general population is
considered to be at risk, bringing about an era where many common
bacterial infections are becoming increasingly difficult to
treat. One of the significant contributing factors to this
changing trend is the spillover of AMR from antibiotic use in poultry
and livestock.
The AMR phenomenon has become a global concern as geographic borders
among countries and continents have become less distinct due to
increasing global trade, expanding human and animal populations,
societal advances and technological developments. Because of this
increasing global connectivity, we now see rapid transport of
infectious agents and their AMR genes. This means that AMR, in
any obscure microscopic niche anywhere in the world, may consequently
exert an impact on the rest of the world.
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