AMR persists in spite of drop in antibiotic prescriptions – Study
ABUJA- A new study has revealed that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to spread in the environment, in spite of a reduction in antibiotic prescriptions.
The development is raising fresh concerns about the complexity of addressing one of the world’s deadliest public health threats, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The research, led by scientists at the University of Bath and published in the Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, was made available to NAN on Thursday in Abuja.
The study warned that simply reducing antibiotic use might not be enough to curb the rise of AMR, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) had linked to over five million deaths annually.
Researchers therefore stressed the need for a broader, multi-faceted approach that included environmental management, improved sanitation, and tighter controls on pharmaceutical waste, in addition to responsible antibiotic use in humans and animals.
The study involved wastewater analysis conducted in collaboration with Wessex Water, using samples collected over two years from four treatment plants in southwest England.
Researchers tracked antibiotic levels and resistance genes in the water and compared findings with pre-pandemic data and prescription records.
Prof. Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Water-Based Early-Warning Systems for Health Protection (CWBE), gave her findings.
Kasprzyk-Hordern said that, even though prescriptions fell between 2017 and 2019, and fewer antibiotics were found in wastewater, no corresponding decline in AMR genes were seen.
“The team observed a temporary drop in resistance levels during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, likely due to reduced human interaction.
“However, both antibiotic usage and AMR gene presence rebounded post-lockdown, “ she said.
She noted this suggested that environmental transmission played a far bigger role than previously assumed.
“It is not just about how much antibiotics we take; once resistant genes are in the environment, they can spread rapidly between bacteria,” she said.
The researchers advocated for a One Health approach that integrated human, animal, and environmental health strategies.
Their ongoing work at CWBE would support this through a newly launched, “living lab”, to monitor early pathogen and chemical exposure and link it to health outcomes.
Dr Like Xu, first author of the study, said that the role of wastewater-based epidemiology was a “cost-effective tool” in understanding and managing resistance patterns.
“It can help inform real-time public health responses and policy interventions,” he said.
NAN recalls that the findings underscore the need for global and cross-sector collaboration to halt the silent spread of AMR, beyond hospitals and farms, into the water systems that connect entire communities.
It will be recalled that AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to the medicines used to treat them, making infections harder and sometimes impossible to cure.
AMR leads to prolonged illness, higher medical costs, and increased death rates.
In Nigeria, it caused over 263,000 deaths in 2019, surpassing those from malaria and tuberculosis.
Key causes include overuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals, poor infection control, weak enforcement of regulations, and public misuse of drugs.
Tackling AMR requires a One Health approach, engaging the human health, veterinary, agriculture, and environmental sectors, especially the private sector, which delivers over 60 per cent of health services in Nigeria.(NAN)
