Superbugs: The antibiotic-resistant mutation that might cause the next global health crisis

The United Nations published a report in February 2023, titled “Bracing for Superbugs”, which looks into the potential role of climate change and other environmental factors in the rise of antibiotic resistance.

What are superbugs? They might sound like some character from a children's television show or comic book, but unfortunately superbugs are a real threats to us all.

Superbugs are strains of bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi that are resistant to most of the antibiotics and other medications commonly used to treat the infections they cause, as explained by the Mayo Clinic.

These antibiotic-resistant mutations have gone from being pretty rare to causing thousands of deaths.

The number of superbug-related casualties every year is around 1.2 million deaths, according to research published by the medical journal The Lancet on January 2022. This is more than the deaths caused by HIV or malaria.

Ever since Alexander Fleming (pictured) discovered penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have been a cornerstone of medical treatment, saving countless lives over the years.

Antibiotic misuse and abuse have caused microbes to learn how to fend off the effects of medication. This is called antimicrobial resistance, and it's one of the biggest concerns in the medical world today.

Antimicrobial resistance could bring a true medical nightmare. If antibiotics are rendered useless, then very little can be done against bacterial infection. Extreme measures, such as amputating limbs, would be necessary for such scenarios.

Image: Piron Guillaume / Unsplash

The Lancet study speculates that, if superbugs continue to develop, in 30 years these devastating microbes could become the cause of death of 10 million people every year.

For comparison, the Covid-19 pandemic was responsible for over 5 million casualties in a span of over two and a half years. Superbugs can easily surpass that count.

Imagen: Martin Sánchez / Unsplash

Scientists agree that the constant abuse and misuse of antibiotics caused microbes to evolve in order to defend themselves. The outcome? Superbugs.

Image: Unsplash / Volodymyr Hryshchenko

Livestock raised in intensive animal farming, also known as factory farming, is also fed with a massive amount of antibiotics.

Image: Unsplash / Iñigo de la Maza

Currently, an increasing number of countries have restricted the use of antibiotics on animals and meat is analyzed to make sure it doesn't have any trace of it. Meanwhile, free-range animals, such as the sheep pictured here, are an alternative that is gaining popularity.

Image: Sam Carter / Unsplash

Children are particularly vulnerable to superbugs, since their immune system is still developing. A study by the Case Western Reserve University on over 10,000 child patients revealed in 2017 an increase of 700% cases in only ten years.

Superbugs have caused alarm within the scientific community. Currently, there's no way to deal with them beyond a few bacterial infection vaccines and a couple of experimental treatments.

One of the most successful cases against superbugs is Belgian-American Karen Northshield, pictured here with crutches. She managed to survive one of the worst infections recorded in medical history.

Northshield is a survivor of the 2016 attack on the Brussels Airport by the Islamic State. Her recovery from these wounds was halted in 2021 due to the development of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in her body.

Doctors said that the infection Northshield had developed was more dangerous than the wounds received from the airport attack. She went through a series of amputations until an experimental technique with a bacteriophage virus stopped the bacteria for good, according to Nature.

Professor Kevin Doxzen, from the Arizona State University, explains over The Conversation that bacteriophages, also known as phages, are viruses that infect the bacteria.

“The phages survive by infecting bacteria, replicating and bursting out from their host, which destroys the bacterium”, writes Doxzen. The name bacteriophage literally means “bacteria eater”.

Sometimes phages only weaken the bacteria, which then requires regular antibiotics to finish off the job. This is what happened to Karen Northshield, as published by Nature.

Research on superbugs and how to deal with them is important. As a 2019 headline from The New York Times summed up succinctly, this is “The Revenge of the Bacteria”.

Bacteriophage treatments are currently in the experimental stage. Most healthcare services haven't approved them as of now.

The fight against superbugs continues in hospitals and labs, but also when dealing with medication (both for humans and animals). Antibiotics only should be used when it's completely necessary.