New Delhi, Aug 2 || Children under the age of five with severe malnourishment could be at significant risk of developing antimicrobial resistant bacteria, according to an alarming study.
Globally, 45 million children under the age of five are estimated to be severely malnourished. These children are also at a higher risk of developing life-threatening infections such as tuberculosis or sepsis due to their weakened immune systems.
The new study led by researchers at the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI) has found that antimicrobial-resistant bacteria are spreading rapidly among children being treated for severe malnutrition in a hospital facility in Niger.
The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, showed that 76 per cent of children carried bacteria with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes, which can break down many commonly used antibiotics.
One in four children (25 per cent) carried bacteria with carbapenemase genes like blaNDM, which confer resistance to some of the most powerful and last-line antibiotics.