'Last hope' antibiotic could be useless within a decade as use to fight hospital superbugs soars
- Prescriptions of antibiotic colistin rose by 40 per cent from 2014 to 2015
- It is used on patients when infections have become resistant to all other drugs
- Experts fear increasing use will see superbugs developing resistance to colistin
The 'last hope' antibiotic could be useless within a decade as the use of the drug to fight hospital superbugs soars.
Figures show prescriptions of colistin, which is used on patients when infections have become resistant to all other drugs, rose by 40 per cent from 2014 to 2015.
Experts fear increasing use will spark a crisis that will see superbugs developing resistance to the antibiotic considered to be the last resort.
The 'last hope' antibiotic could be useless within a decade as the use of the drug to fight hospital superbugs soars
Dr Michael Weinbren, a consultant in infectious diseases at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, told The Telegraph: 'The one thing you can be sure of is that the organisms will develop resistance.'
'When you're down to one class of antibiotic, you've got to be worried. You've got to be terrified and we need to be doing something about this.'
The first case in the US involving a bug that was resistant to colistin was reported in May last year.
Concerns over resistance has already led to the tightening of regulations over the use of the drug in farming.
The antibiotic, used to promote growth and protect animals from diseases, has been banned from being used in animal feed in China.
Figures show prescriptions of colistin, which is used on patients when superbugs have become resistant to all other drugs, rose by 40 per cent from 2014 to 2015.
The European Commission has also recommended that overall use of the drug in agriculture should be cut by two thirds.
Despite the guidelines, the Bureau of Investigative found three new colistin products had been approved by the government last year.
A 49-year-old woman in Pennsylvania became the first case in the US of a patient with a bug that was resistant to colistin.
Experts at the time warned at the time of the risk of it becoming 'the end of the road' for antibiotics.
Dr Tom Frieden, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said: 'It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently. We risk being in a post-antibiotic world.'
In the UK, Public Health England (PHE) has also reported testing samples and finding resistance to colistin.
Professor Alan Johnson, head of the Department of Healthcare Associated Infection (HCAI) and Antibiotic Resistance at PHE, said at the time: 'The mcr-1 gene, recently identified as a cause of resistance to the antibiotic colistin, has been found in a very small number of samples of bacteria - 15 out of 24,000, from humans and food tested in the UK.'
Experts fear increasing use will spark a crisis that will see superbugs developing resistance to the antibiotic considered to be the last resort
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