“40 million dead”: global health seriously threatened by new crisis
Antibiotic resistance, humanity's new scourge. The medical journal The Lancet, in a recent study, reveals the disastrous consequences of this phenomenon. By 2050, nearly 40 million people could die.
The study assesses the impact of antibiotic resistance in the coming years. Researchers collected data from more than 520 million people in 204 countries. They looked at 22 pathogens, 84 combinations between pathogens and treatments as well as 11 infectious syndromes, reports L’Indépendant. Their results were published in The Lancet this week: within 25 years, antibiotic resistance will worsen and more than 39 million people across the globe are at risk of dying from infections resistant to these drugs.
Between 1990 and 2021, experts have established that nearly a million people per year died as a direct result of antibiotic resistance. On the other hand, the phenomenon is improving among young children and infants, in whom resistance to this type of drug has decreased by more than 50%. The researchers nevertheless specify that infections have become more complicated to treat. Among adults aged 70, deaths have increased by more than 80% over the same period.
According to this study, by 2025, the number of direct victims worldwide could reach 1.91 million per year, underlines L’Indépendant. An increase of more than 67% compared to 2021.
From 2025 to 2050, 92 million deaths could nevertheless be avoided thanks to progress.
(MH with AsD - Source: L’Indépendant - Illustration: Unsplash)