- Critical priority pathogens present major global threats due to their high burden, and ability to resist treatment and spread resistance to other bacteria, noted the latest Bacterial Pathogens Priority List (BPPL) updated by the World Health Organization (WHO), first published in 2017.
- This includes gram-negative bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to the antibiotic Rifampicin.
- The list features 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grouped into critical, high, and medium categories for prioritisation.
- The WHO stated that high-priority pathogens, including salmonella and shigella, are of particularly high burden in low and middle-income countries, along with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, which pose significant challenges in healthcare settings.
- Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines, increasing the risk of disease spread, illness and death. AMR is driven in large part by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials.
- Other high-priority pathogens such as antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Enterococcus faecium, present unique public health challenges.
Dig Deeper: Read about various initiatives in India and world stage to halt increasing Antimicrobial Resistance.
