ARLG Co-Principal Investigator, Vance Fowler, MD, and Helen Boucher, MD, ARLG Executive Committee Member and Innovations Working Group Chair, shared their insights on the current state of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in a recent article published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The article, “Where are we in the battle against antibiotic-resistant infections?,” also included their strategies to combat this global health crisis.
Dr. Boucher, an Infectious Disease (ID) Specialist, Dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine, and Chief Academic Officer of Tufts Medicine, emphasized practicing infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship to decrease rates of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospitals. The development of diagnostic tests to determine if an infection is bacterial or viral is another promising avenue to combat AMR. However, Dr. Boucher notes, it has been challenging to determine how best to use the tests and make them cost effective.
Dr. Fowler, ID Specialist and Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, highlighted the need for renewed investment in the development of antibiotics by the pharmaceutical industry, which could be supported through the PASTEUR Act if passed by Congress. Bacteriophage therapy is emerging as a strong potential treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections. Dr. Fowler served as Chair of a blinded independent adjudication committee to evaluate the results of a phase 2 trial conducted at UCLA. The study showed promising results for a phage “cocktail” used in combination with standard of care antibiotics to treat patients with complicated Staphylococcus aureus infections.
The AAMC article also cites antimicrobial use in livestock and agriculture and ID workforce shortages as other areas that need to be addressed to combat the AMR crisis.