Photo: VietQ The VND 60-billion project, built with financial assistance from the Fleming Fund and Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam (OUCRU) and equipped with modern technologies, was seen as an important milestone in treating infectious and tropical diseases, especially in the context that Vietnam was listed among countries with the highest antibiotic-resistant infections by the World Health Organization. While many developing countries are using the first antibiotic generation, Vietnam has to use the second and third antibiotic generations in treating patients. More seriously, some new bacteria have developed resistance to all antibiotics, causing difficulties for patient treatment. Translated by Tran Hoai
Oxford University Clinical Research Unit has presented ten prizes this week to the Vietnamese winners of a painting and photo contest it organized with two local partners over a month to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance in poultry farming. The ten best entries were honored on Monday in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, where the unit cooperated with the Dong Thap Center for Health Information and Education and the provincial Department of Education and Training to organize the “Stop Your Poultry from Binge-Drinking Antibiotics” contest. The competition was meant to tackle antibiotic resistance in both animals and…... [read more]
More than 6,000 deaths a year could be caused by a 30% fall in the effectiveness of antibiotics in the US, a report in The Lancet suggests. It said most of the extra deaths would happen in patients having colorectal surgery, blood cancer chemotherapy and hip replacements. UK experts said the study confirmed their fears that antibiotic resistance would affect routine surgery. England's chief medical officer has called the issue a "ticking time bomb". In this report, a team of scientists from a number of different American institutions estimated that as many as half of all bacteria that cause infections…... [read more]
As the World Health Organization (WHO) ramps up its fight against antibiotic resistance, a new multi-country surveyshows people are confused about this major threat to public health and donot understand how to prevent it from growing. Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria change and become resistant to the antibiotics used to treat the infections they cause. Over-use and misuse of antibiotics increase the development of resistant bacteria, and this survey points out some of the practices, gaps in understanding and misconceptions which contribute to this phenomenon. Almost two thirds (64%) of some 10 000 people who were surveyed across 12 countries…... [read more]
Vietnam has seen increasing resistance to antibiotics in recent years, posing a greater risk to patients. Drug resistance prolongs treatmentsA report by the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership-Vietnam project last October indicated that Ho Chi Minh City recorded only 8% of penicillin-resistant pneumococcus in the 1990s. However, the figure had soared to 56% in the 1999-2000 period.The same situation has been reported in several localities in northern Vietnam. ThreatsAccording to Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc Trieu, drug and especially antibiotic resistance is on the rise and posing an increasing threat to the treatment of infectious diseases.The World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative…... [read more]
The world is on the cusp of a "post-antibiotic era", scientists have warned after finding bacteria resistant to drugs used when all other treatments have failed. They identified bacteria able to shrug off the drug of last resort - colistin - in patients and livestock in China. They said that resistance would spread around the world and raised the spectre of untreatable infections. It is likely resistance emerged after colistin was overused in farm animals. Bacteria becoming completely resistant to treatment - also known as the antibiotic apocalypse - could plunge medicine back into the dark ages. Common infections would…... [read more]
