One in six bacterial infections worldwide are now resistant to antibiotics, WHO warns
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a sharp rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with one in six bacterial infections worldwide now resistant to antibiotic treatments.
- WHO’s latest global surveillance report found that antibiotic resistance rose in over 40% of the pathogen-antibiotic combinations monitored from 2018 to 2023, with an average annual increase of 5-15% depending on the combination.1
- The problem was most severe in low and middle income countries and in those with weaker healthcare systems, with resistance present in a third of all infections in some regions.
New funds for local leaders to unlock jobs and boost innovation across the country
- Local areas can now bid for support of up to £20 million each in government funding to grow existing regional science and tech expertise.
- Investment will back local leaders who know their regions best, unlocking discoveries and creating hundreds of jobs as part of record £86 billion R&D settlement.
- Builds on support already earmarked to local leaders in ten UK areas through Local Innovation Partnerships Fund.
‘Pill-on-a-thread’ mobile cancer testing trialled
- A new test designed to detect early signs of cancer is being trialled among heartburn patients in York.
- People over the age of 55 were invited to a mobile unit in Acomb, to swallow the “pill-on-a-thread” which could detect early oesophageal cancer.
- The pill stays in the stomach for seven minutes. In that time, the gelatine capsule dissolves and releases a sponge about the size of a cherry tomato. It is then gently pulled back up the oesophagus, where it can collect cells which go off for testing to be returned within four weeks.
AI used to help diagnose dementia in UK first
- Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to help diagnose dementia more quickly and accurately.
- Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, in south east Wales, is the first in the UK to begin the study, which will eventually be rolled out to 1,000 patients across the UK.
- The study combines state-of-the-art blood tests to detect biomarkers, which detect tiny proteins in blood, and can show early signs of Alzheimer’s. AI is then used to pull the results together.
Dr Nicola Rose: A new antibiotic is positive news – but it will take more to stay ahead of superbugs
- The MHRA’s Interim Executive Director of Science and Research writes in The British Medical Journal on the approval of the UK’s first new UTI antibiotic in nearly 30 years, and the wider challenge of tackling antibiotic resistance.
