'Deaths associated with these bacteria would rank as the second leading cause of death globally... Strategies to address the burden of bacterial infections include infection prevention, optimised use of antibiotics...'
Citation, abstract and a comment from me below.
CITATION: Global mortality associated with 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
GBD 2019 Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators
Open AccessPublished:November 21, 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02185-7
SUMMARY
Background: Reducing the burden of death due to infection is an urgent global public health priority.
Methods: We estimated deaths associated with 33 bacterial genera or species...
Findings: We estimated deaths associated with the 33 bacterial pathogens to comprise 13·6% (10·2–18·1) of all global deaths... Five leading pathogens—Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa—were responsible for 54·9% (52·9–56·9) of deaths among the investigated bacteria... Among children younger than 5 years, S pneumoniae was the pathogen associated with the most deaths. In 2019, more than 6 million deaths occurred as a result of three bacterial infectious syndromes, with lower respiratory infections and bloodstream infections each causing more than 2 million deaths and peritoneal and intra-abdominal infections causing more than 1 million deaths.
Interpretation: ... deaths associated with these bacteria would rank as the second leading cause of death globally in 2019; hence, they should be considered an urgent priority for intervention within the global health community. Strategies to address the burden of bacterial infections include infection prevention, optimised use of antibiotics, improved capacity for microbiological analysis, vaccine development, and improved and more pervasive use of available vaccines.
COMMENT: The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) is a hugely important and 'comprehensive regional and global research program of disease burden that assesses mortality and disability from major diseases, injuries, and risk factors' (Wikipedia). We know a huge amount about the biomedical causes of disease, and we know a lot about risk factors. But we know relatively little about the quality-of-care factors that contribute to mortality. And this is key to understanding how to reduce mortality. One of the drivers of quality of care is the ability to access relevant, reliable healthcare information. Individual and families, health workers, policymakers all need access to relevant, reliable healthcare information. (Health workers have many other basic needs to deliver quality care, as described by HIFA in the acronym SEISMIC https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa/hifa-universal-health-coverage-and-human... ).
In 2023 HIFA is developing a report for WHO 'To identify best practices, opportunities and challenges from relevant health related stakeholders, towards pursuing universal access to reliable healthcare information.' It won't be anything like as comprehensive as the GBD. But it will be a start. Contact us if you can help in any way.
https://www.hifa.org/projects/hifa-who-collaboration-plan
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Global Coordinator HIFA, www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org
Working in official relations with WHO
