‘Colonizer’ microorganisms to superbugs: The mechanisms behind antibiotic resistance

Experts like Dr. Sylvia Omulo are searching for answers to aid in human healing as antimicrobial resistance poses a threat to take us back to a time before antibiotics.

Doctors, scientists, and public health experts are warning of a growing global health risk known as antimicrobial resistance, or AMR: some of the most dependable drugs in the world are losing their efficacy against "superbugs."

The WHO states that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the process by which bacteria, viruses, and parasites become resistant to medication, worsening patient outcomes and accelerating the spread of infection.

Antimicrobial resistance poses a threat to a century of medical advancement and has the potential to take us back to a time before antibiotics, when diseases that are currently manageable could become fatal. This was another warning issued by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

According to the WHO, AMR is estimated to be a factor in millions of deaths annually and will worsen suffering, especially in low- and middle-income nations. Health specialists believe that fresh solutions are needed in the world.

Dr. Sylvia Omulo is an epidemiologist at Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. She holds a PhD in immunology and infectious diseases and studies AMR.

She has spent over two decades studying the relationships that exist between animals, humans, and the habitats in which they all coexist as well as the microbes that inhabit them.

The bacteria that kill humans are not studied by Omulo. She examines those that don't, yet they may hold the key to helping us comprehend the intricate ecosystems that live alongside humans on our skin, in our noses, and within our bellies.

Given the way these microorganisms multiply throughout humans and animals, frequently without causing harm, she refers to them as "colonisers."

By examining them, she has discovered genes linked to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the reasons why certain individuals and animals are more vulnerable to resistant microorganisms, and the distribution of those characteristics in both communities and medical facilities.