Antimicrobial resistance containment in Africa: Moving beyond surveillance

Abstract:

Worldwide, infections caused by drug‐resistant pathogens constitute a significant challenge threatening ther-apeutic efforts. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) ranksamong the top 10 global public health threats. Organisms with a high rate of multiple host adaptivity, signif-icant genetic diversity (multiple lineages), high virulence factors, and genetic exchange have been isolatedfrom various sources (humans, animals, and the environment) even without exposure to prior antibiotics.Till now, the source of AMR and how resistant clones are selected in the environment remain largely elusive,and potential anthropogenic transmission has been reported in different studies. Various drug‐resistant patho-gens, lineages, resistant clones, outbreak clusters, plasmid replicates, and genes that play a critical role in resis-tance dissemination have been identified. Maintenance of certain multidrug‐resistant (MDR) determinants hasalso been shown to enhance or support the propagation of MDR. So far, significant advances have been made inunderstanding the burden of AMR. However, overcoming AMR requires a holistic approach, as there is no sin-gle approach with sufficient precision to curb the threat. While strengthening AMR surveillance efforts is essen-tial, as we have shown, there is also a need to intensify efforts to strengthen therapeutic interventions,especially in priority regions such as Africa. Herein, we discussed the burden of AMR and the disseminationof AMR in humans, animals, and the environment (non‐medical drivers). We further delved into the big ques-tions on Africa and discussed how therapeutic interventions involving vaccines and other viable biomaterialscould be pivotal in reducing the burden of AMR to the barest minimum.© 2024 Chinese Medical Association Publishing House. Published by Elsevier BV. This is an open access articleunder the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Anyaegbunam, Z.K.G., Mba, I.E., Yandev, D., Anyaegbunam, N.J., Mba, T., Aina, F.A., Chigor, V.N., Nweze, E.I. and Eze, E.A. 2024). Antimicrobial resistance containment in Africa: Moving beyond surveillance. Biosafety and Health, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bsheal.2023.12.003