Antimicrobial (antibiotic) Resistance – the drugs won’t work !
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant global threat of far-reaching proportions. It is estimated that drug resistant infections contribute to nearly 5 million deaths every year and predicted to increase to over 10 million deaths every year. WHO has declared that AMR is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.
(The worldwide total deaths from COVID is now just over 6 million and we all know how frightening it was before the vaccine was developed)
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”. Without effective antimicrobials, the success of modern medicine in treating infections, including during major surgery and cancer chemotherapy, would be at increased risk. Chronic infections if left untreated could result in tissue damage, amputation, longer stays in hospitals, surgical interventions, or increased possibility of mortality. Patients who are infected with drug-resistant infections are more likely to develop complications and are up to three times more likely to die from the infection. Non-healing wounds in particular, are characterised by complex and mixed bacterial populations, often involving antibiotic-resistant bacteria as well as phenotypically tolerant bacteria in biofilm form. The biofilm factor is clearly of considerable clinical importance: it protects bacteria from antimicrobial agents leading to persistent and difficult to treat chronic infections, and it exacerbates the spread of antibiotic resistance. Surgical Site Infections are also linked to anti-microbial resistance.
SteriPlas cold plasma technology kills bacteria by a physical mode of action and bacteria are therefore unlikely to develop primary or secondary resistance, which we have documented from our clinical studies. SteriPlas cold plasma also kills antibiotic resistant bacteria (e.g. MRSA) and kills bacteria encased in biofilm which are typically up to 1000 times more resistant to antibiotics. SteriPlas has proven clinical efficacy in treating wound infections, diabetic foot infections and surgical site infections in all clinical studies, all with the bonus of no side effects reported.
SteriPlas cold plasma can be used to treat topical infections reserving antibiotics for severe systemic infections.
References
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02724-0/fulltext
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
https://www.who.int/health-topics/antimicrobial-resistance
https://healthfirsteurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/A3A4-48pp-Booklet-Spreads-1.pdf
Bowler, P., Murphy, C. & Wolcott, R. Biofilm exacerbates antibiotic resistance: Is this a current oversight in antimicrobial stewardship?. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control 9, 162 (2020).