COLUMBUS – Researchers at five of Ohio State University’s colleges and its medical center are collaborating on a “one health” approach to battle antibiotic resistance.
Bacterial infections that would typically be treated with antibiotics are becoming more resistant to these medications, and bacteria evolve faster than new treatments can be developed, resulting in life-threatening illness, according to a press release.
Ohio State’s antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) educates health-care workers, veterinarians, students and patients on the appropriate and best use of antibiotics among people and animals.
“The more you show your cards to the bacteria, the easier it is for them to practice getting around that drug,” said Erica Reed, the lead specialty practice pharmacist in infectious diseases at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “We’re already seeing patients with life-threatening infections that we have very few effective drugs left to treat.”
Researchers with the ASP stress the importance of using the antibiotics we have today in a way that helps maintain their effectiveness into the future, while developing new antibiotic alternatives.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has designated Ohio State’s Infectious Diseases Institute as one of eight reference centers worldwide for antimicrobial resistance.
Ohio State’s comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach examines the many ways antibiotic-resistant bacteria can spread, whether it’s between people and animals or through waterways to livestock that may then infect the food supply.
A discovery nearly a decade ago by Ohio State veterinary researchers led to changes in disinfection practices worldwide in environments ranging from hospital rooms to pig farms. The researchers identified microbes that, after becoming tolerant to specific disinfectants, would automatically become resistant to a wide range of antibiotics.
In 2018, the College of Veterinary Medicine started its own comprehensive antimicrobial stewardship program to help veterinarians and students confidently make judicious antimicrobial use decisions while providing the best care for their animal patients.
Next, experts hope to modify the program to apply it in private veterinary practices around the state.
Reed said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of managing infections properly on a global level. She sees the need for stewardship networks among global partners to help prevent dangerous future infections.
