Multidisciplinary unit to focus on rise of ‘superbugs’ identified by WHO as a leading threat to global health, responsible for 700,000 annual deaths worldwide
October 20, 2021 (Montreal, Quebec) – Globally, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) causes approximately 700,000 deaths annually, a number projected to reach over 10 million yearly deaths by 2050. The prevalence of AMR in Canada is projected to reach 40% by this time, a plausible scenario if no interventions successfully curb their rise.
Researchers at the Montreal Children’s Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre – the Children’s - and the CHU Sainte-Justine are coming together within the scope of two new projects, funded under the auspices of the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (MI4): improving the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial pneumonia and better understanding rare immune disorders.
Improving the appropriateness of antibiotic use to treat pneumonia
Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat. So much so that a 2014 study commissioned by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom predicted that, if the problem is left unchecked, in less than 35 years more people will die from antibiotic resistant superbugs than from cancer. It is critical that researchers develop new antibiotics informed by knowledge of how superbugs are resistant to this medication.
Antibiotic resistance represents a major challenge in treating pathogenic bacterial infections.
Now, researchers at McGill University have discovered a possible target for fighting back against resistant bacteria.
