Monday 21 November 2022 11:38 PM World's deadliest bugs REVEALED: Bacterial infections kill nearly 8MILLION ... trends now

Monday 21 November 2022 11:38 PM World's deadliest bugs REVEALED: Bacterial infections kill nearly 8MILLION ... trends now
Monday 21 November 2022 11:38 PM World's deadliest bugs REVEALED: Bacterial infections kill nearly 8MILLION ... trends now

Monday 21 November 2022 11:38 PM World's deadliest bugs REVEALED: Bacterial infections kill nearly 8MILLION ... trends now

Bacterial infections kill more people than smoking every year, according to analysis that reveals the true scale of the ever-growing superbug crisis.

In the year before Covid stuck, 7.7million fatalities worldwide — or one in eight — were caused by bugs such as S. aureus, E. coli, and S. pneumoniae. 

The bacteria can cause skin, blood and lung infections, respectively. Any infection can also trigger sepsis, a life-threatening complication caused by the immune system attacking itself.

Only heart disease killed more people than bacterial infections, scientists concluded. Just five bacteria, the three already mentioned as well as K pneumoniae and P aeruginosa, were responsible for half of the deaths.

Until now, experts had only estimated the prevalence of bacterial infections among specific groups or in certain parts of the world. But a new analysis has revealed how widespread deaths due to the bacteria are. 

Experts behind the study, published in prestigious medical journal The Lancet, have called for more research into ways of stopping the spread of the bugs, some of which are slowly becoming immune to drugs. 

It comes as health chiefs today revealed nearly 150 people in England per day suffered a bacterial infection which was resistant to antibiotics in 2021 — when a drug becomes less effective over time. 

The overuse of the drugs in recent years has seen once-treatable illnesses morph into something more sinister — fuelled by bacteria slowly learning to evade drugs. 

Experts have suggested superbugs pose a bigger threat than climate change and that its death toll could overtake cancer in the next three decades — which kills nearly 10million people annually.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated that there were 7.7million deaths due to 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019 — both those that can be treated with antibiotics and those that are resistant to drugs. More than three-quarters were due to lower respiratory infections, bloodstream infections and peritoneal and intra-abdominal infections (shown in graph)

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated that there were 7.7million deaths due to 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019 — both those that can be treated with antibiotics and those that are resistant to drugs. More than three-quarters were due to lower respiratory infections, bloodstream infections and peritoneal and intra-abdominal infections (shown in graph)

The IHME data shows the years of life lost (YLLs) due to 33 bacterial infections (listed along horizontal axis). The colours show what time of illness the bacteria caused, such as lower respiratory tract (green), bloodstream (blue) or skin (orange

The IHME data shows the years of life lost (YLLs) due to 33 bacterial infections (listed along horizontal axis). The colours show what time of illness the bacteria caused, such as lower respiratory tract (green), bloodstream (blue) or skin (orange

What are the world's most deadliest bugs? 

Staphylococcus aureus

Annual death count: 1.1million

The bacteria is the leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections, such as abscesses, staph infections and cellulitis.

It is spread through contact with an infected person or contaminated object.

Escherichia coli

Annual death count: 950,000

The bacterial infection can cause severe stomach pain, bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure.

It is found in the gut and faeces of many animals and can be caught by eating contaminated food (such as undercooked meat), touching infected animals and swimming in contaminated water. 

Streptococcus pneumoniae

Annual death count: 829,000

Streptococcus pneumoniae causes pneumococcal infections — which can trigger from ear and sinus infections, as well as pneumonia and bloodstream infections. 

Symptoms range from a mild to severe fever, body aches or sore head. 

Klebsiella pneumoniae

Annual death count: 790,000

The bacteria is normally found in the intestines and can cause pneumonia, as well as bloodstream infections and meningitis. 

Those who have it may suffer a fever, chills, coughing and chest pain. 

Pseudomonas aeruginosa 

Annual death count: 559,000

The bacteria is found in soil and ground water and rarely affects healthy people. It causes infections in the lungs and blood.

It is spread through contact with contaminated water and in hospitals through contaminated medical devices. 

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The university researchers said it is 'essential' to understand how widespread common bacterial infections are to spot those which pose the greatest threat to society.

To get to the bottom of this, they launched the first ever study which estimates the deaths caused by 33 of the most common bacterial pathogens, including salmonella, listeria and shigella.

Dr Christopher Murray and colleagues modelled the global death toll by estimating the overall number of fatalities each infection had a role in across 204 countries.

Data was taken from the Global Burden of Antimicrobial Resistance study. Millions of cause-of-death and hospital records were also included from dozens of countries. 

Academics also worked out which syndrome was behind the death — such as meningitis or a lower respiratory or bloodstream infection. 

The results suggest that 13.7million deaths were caused by infections in 2019. This figure includes viral infections, such as malaria and HIV.

Of these, 7.7million were due to 33 bacterial pathogens — including those that can be treated with antibiotics and those that are resistant to drugs. 

The death

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