Doctors from Geneva university hospitals have just published two studies on the fact that children in sub-Saharan Africa carry bacteria that are multi-resistant to antibiotics in proportions that have become very worrying, particularly due to the abusive use of these drugs. However, bacterial infections are today the main cause of death in these regions.
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The first study aimed to assess the proportion of antibiotic-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in children in sub-Saharan Africa, Enterobacteriaceae being bacteria found in the digestive tract. Some can be responsible for sometimes severe infections such as typhoid fever.
The second sought to estimate the prevalence of the number of children colonized by enterobacteria which are resistant to a very specific type of drugs, cephalosporins, so-called third generation antibiotics often used in this region.
These two studies revealed “ a high proportion of antibiotic resistant bacteria » in the blood of young patients, warns Doctor Noémie Wagner, specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at the University Hospitals of Geneva.
Between 83 and 100% of hospitalized children treated with antibiotics
A situation that is all the more alarming given that between 83 and 100% of hospitalized children are treated with antibiotics in sub-Saharan Africa. Worse still, more than half of these children who entered the hospital without carrying resistant enterobacteria came out positive for these bacteria.
The problem is that “ there are often no other treatment options available in this region if this fails “, underlines another doctor and that children are very frequently treated with antibiotics upon admission to hospital, even in the absence of a solid argument to suspect a bacterial infection.
“ It’s the snake that bites its tail » points out Dr. Wagner, because she says, “ overuse of antibiotics increases the proportion of resistant bacteria which will be difficult to treat “.
Read alsoThe dangers of growing antibiotic resistance