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Bacterial infections

We refuse to stand still while bacterial infections continue to evade our control.

We are working urgently to help protect society from the consequences of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus or staph) infections, including Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and other bacteria that cause bacterial lung infections, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa.[1]
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E.coli
ExPEC and S. aureus are the two leading causes worldwide of invasive bacteraemia (presence of bacteria in the blood) and septicaemia (a life-threatening, uncontrolled inflammatory response to infection that may lead to organ failure and death), posing a serious threat to older adults with weakening immune systems.[1],[2]

In 2017, an estimated 48.9 million incident cases of sepsis and 11 million sepsis-related deaths were reported worldwide, representing almost 20% of all global deaths.[3]
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Bacteria may develop antimicrobial resistance (AMR) or multidrug resistance (MDR), significantly increasing the severity of the infections, morbidity and mortality rates.[4], [5] AMR is one of the top ten threats to global health, according to the World Health Organization[6] and by 2050, AMR infections are predicted to kill more people than cancer.[7]
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As the primary cause of urinary tract infections, which can account for 25% of antibiotic prescriptions, ExPEC is considered a major driver behind the global AMR crisis [8],[9],[10]”
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The fight against treatment resistance
In the fight against treatment resistance, both vaccines and therapeutics have a vital role to play, alongside the development of new antibiotics, better diagnostics and coordinated strategies to improve the use of antibiotics.[7],[11] That is why we prioritise developing novel solutions to reduce the devastating consequences of infection, dependency on antibiotics and the risk of AMR and MDR.

References

[1]Smith D and Nehring S. Bacteremia. Stat Pearls Publishing. 2019.
[2]Ramachandran G. Gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial toxins in sepsis - A brief review. Virulence. 2014; 5(1):213-218.
[3]Rudd et al. Global, regional, and national sepsis incidence and mortality, 1990–2017: analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet. 2020; 395: 200–11.
[4]Dadgostar P. Antimicrobial Resistance: Implications and Costs. Infect Drug Resist. 2019;12:3903-3910.
[5]Prestinaci, F., et al. Antimicrobial resistance: a global multifaceted phenomenon. Pathogens and global health. 2015;109(7):309–318.
[6]World Health Organization. Ten threats to global health in 2019. Available at: https://www.who.int/vietnam/news/feature-stories/detail/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019. Accessed: December 2022.
[7]Review on antimicrobial resistance. Tackling drug-resistant infections globally: Final report and recommendations. Available at: https://amr-review.org/sites/default/files/160525_Final%20paper_with%20c... Accessed: December 2022.
[8]Singer RS,. Urinary tract infections attributed to diverse ExPEC strains in food animals: evidence and data gaps. Front Microbiol. 2015;6:28
[9]Sihra N. Nonantibiotic prevention and management of recurrent urinary tract infection. Nat Rev Urol. 2018;15(12):750–776.
[10]Longitude prize. 10 most dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Available at: https://longitudeprize.org/blog-post/10-most-dangerous-antibiotic-resist.... Accessed: December 2022.
[11]World Health Organization. Antibiotic resistance. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance. Accessed: December 2022.

CP-459038
September 2024