“Injecting antibiotics with skin patches could help fight antibiotic resistance”

“Researchers at Queen’s University, Belfast, are in the process of creating skin patches that directly and painlessly inject drugs into the bloodstream using thousands of “microneedles”. This could help slow the progress of antibiotic resistance crisis.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria mutate and develop resistance in response to the use of antibiotics.

Thanks to the misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals, antibiotic resistance is on the rise and already infections such as tuberculosis and pneumonia are becoming harder to treat with the limited number of available antibiotics.

The issue is described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as “one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development today”. It is “no longer a prediction for the future, it is happening right now in every region of the world”, the WHO states.

The oral administration of antibiotics contributes to the progress of antibiotic resistance due to the interaction of antibiotics with gut bacteria. When antibiotics are injected, however, they are not exposed to the gut bacteria and are instead excreted via the kidneys. Increasing the proportion of antibiotics administered via injection could extend the lifetime of existing antibiotics.”

Source: Engineering & Technology

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