(Press-News.org) Although emergence of antimicrobial resistance severely threatens our future ability to treat many infections, the UK infection-research spend targeting this important area is still unacceptably small, say a team of researchers led by Michael Head of UCL (University College London). Their study is published online today in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
This study is the first systematic analysis of research funding for infectious disease research, and for antimicrobial resistance, in the UK between 1997 and 2010.
There were 6,165 studies identified that were funded during the 14 year period, covering all infectious disease research, representing a total investment of £2.6 billion. Of those studies, 337 studies were funded for antimicrobial resistance research, comprising 5.5% of total infectious disease research projects. These were awarded £102 million; only 3.9% of the total spend, with a median award of approximately £120,000. Thirty-four per cent (£34.8million) of the total funding for antimicrobial resistance was related to global health.
Michael G. Head, corresponding author for the study, said: "The study showed that antimicrobial resistance desperately needs to be a priority topic for funders and policymakers, not just in the UK but worldwide. The National Institute for Health Research demonstrates a welcome UK commitment to this area via a themed research funding call, and the UK Government UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2013-2018 published on 10 September 2013, but it is important that organisations globally follow suit with intentions to invest in high quality research. This is very much an international problem."
All the studies included in this project were either publically or charitably funded; no privately funded studies were included due to the limited data publically available about them.
Professor Rifat Atun from Imperial College London, one of the authors of the paper, said "Antimicrobial resistance is rising globally and in the UK at an alarming rate. Failure to invest in antimicrobial research means we are poorly prepared to manage the rising drug resistant infections with major health and economic consequences. Time is ripe for strong leadership to ensure sustained and targeted funding for global and UK-level action."
The study highlights drug-resistant tuberculosis as an example of a growing problem, with the World Health Organization estimating 630,000 cases worldwide. This and other multi-drug resistant bacteria such as E. coli, are areas of potentially the greatest future burden. Hence, "there is a compelling case for increased funding for antimicrobial resistance research, particularly in disciplines such as epidemiology, modelling, economics, policy, and behavioural research," say the authors.
###
For further information, contact:
Kirsty Doole, Publicity Manager, Oxford Journals
kirsty.doole@oup.com | +44 (0) 1865 355439 | +44 (0) 7557 163 098
The UK is not investing enough in research into multi-drug resistant infections, say researchers
Study of funding awarded to antimicrobial resistance research projects in the UK calls for political leadership and sustained and targeted spending
2013-09-13
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study finds 30 percent lower risk of dying for diabetics with bypass surgery vs. stent
2013-09-13
TORONTO, Sept. 13, 2013—People with diabetes have a 30 per cent less chance of dying if they undergo coronary artery bypass surgery rather than opening the artery through angioplasty and inserting a stent, a new study has found.
The findings are significant and have public health implications because of the sheer size of the difference in outcomes, according to the researchers at St. Michael's Hospital. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of people with diabetes, and diabetics represent one-quarter of all patients who undergo coronary artery procedures. The number of people ...
Antarctic research details ice melt below massive glacier
2013-09-13
An expedition of international scientists to the far reaches of Antarctica's remote Pine Island Glacier has yielded exact measurements of an undersea process glaciologists have long called the "biggest source of uncertainty in global sea level projections."
The research, which appears in the latest issue of Science magazine, was conducted by scientists at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, Calif., the University of Alaska, Pennsylvania State University, NASA, and the British Antarctic Survey. ...
UNC researchers identify a new pathway that triggers septic shock
2013-09-13
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The body's immune system is set up much like a home security system; it has sensors on the outside of cells that act like motion detectors — floodlights — that click on when there's an intruder rustling in the bushes, bacteria that seem suspect. For over a decade researchers have known about one group of external sensors called Toll-like receptors that detect when bacteria are nearby.
Now, researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have identified a sensor pathway inside cells. These internal sensors are like motion detectors ...
Living the good life, longer
2013-09-13
The average American today can look forward to over two more years of healthy life than they could just a generation ago, Harvard researchers have found.
By synthesizing the data collected in multiple government-sponsored health surveys conducted over the last 3 decades, Susan Stewart, researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research, David Cutler, the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics and Professor in the Harvard Department of Global Health and Population, and Allison Rosen, MD and associate professor of Quantitative Health Sciences at the University ...
Americans living longer, more healthy lives
2013-09-13
WORCESTER, MA – Thanks to medical advances, better treatments and new drugs not available a generation ago, the average American born today can expect to live 3.8 years longer than a person born two decades ago. Despite all these new technologies, however, is our increased life expectancy actually adding active and healthy years to our lives? That question has remained largely unanswered – until now. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) have found that the average 25-year-old American today can look forward to ...
Stem cells are wired for cooperation, down to the DNA
2013-09-13
We often think of human cells as tiny computers that perform assigned tasks, where disease is a result of a malfunction. But in the current issue of Science, researchers at The Mount Sinai Medical Center offer a radical view of health — seeing it more as a cooperative state among cells, while they see disease as result of cells at war that fight with each other for domination.
Their unique approach is backed by experimental evidence. The researchers show a network of genes in cells, which includes the powerful tumor suppressor p53, which enforce a cooperative state ...
Simple steps may identify patients that hold onto excess sodium
2013-09-13
Augusta, Ga. - Getting a second urine sample and blood pressure measure as patients head out of the doctor's office appears an efficient way to identify those whose health may be in jeopardy because their bodies hold onto too much sodium, researchers report.
"We want to prove that you can easily and efficiently identify these patients," said Evan A. Mulloy, a second-year medical student at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. "We want this to become a part of our routine standard of care."
Using the simple method, researchers looked at 19, ...
Scientific societies face 'modern challenges'
2013-09-13
RESTON, VIRGINIA – An article published in the September issue of BioScience highlights the challenges facing biological societies and offers insights for scientific societies to respond and adapt to the changing dynamics of 21st century science.
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) surveyed 139 biology societies to better understand the composition of the biological sciences community and how this community has changed over time. Organizational leaders were asked about the size of their organization's membership over the last fifty years. The majority ...
Voyager's departure from the heliosphere
2013-09-13
This news release is available in Spanish. New data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, which has been hurtling away from the Sun since it was launched in 1977, indicates that the spacecraft has indeed left the comfort of the heliosphere—the bubble of hot, energetic charged particles surrounding the Solar System—and entered into a region of cold, dark space, known as interstellar space. Based on these new measurements, which show that plasma densities around the spacecraft are consistent with theoretical predictions of the interstellar medium, researchers suggest that ...
Viruses associated with coral epidemic of 'white plague'
2013-09-13
CORVALLIS, Ore. – They call it the "white plague," and like its black counterpart from the Middle Ages, it conjures up visions of catastrophic death, with a cause that was at first uncertain even as it led to widespread destruction – on marine corals in the Caribbean Sea.
Now one of the possible causes of this growing disease epidemic has been identified – a group of viruses that are known as small, circular, single-strand DNA (or SCSD) viruses. Researchers in the College of Science at Oregon State University say these SCSD viruses are associated with a dramatic increase ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Findings of large-scale study on 572 Asian families supports gene-directed management of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene carriers in Singapore
Many children with symptoms of brain injuries and concussions are missing out on vital checks, national US study finds
Genetic hope in fight against devastating wheat disease
Mutualism, from biology to organic chemistry?
POSTECH Professor Yong-Young Noh resolves two decades of oxide semiconductor challenges, which Is published in prestigious journal Nature
Could fishponds help with Hawaiʻi’s food sustainability?
International network in Asia and Europe to uncover the mysteries of marine life
Anthropologist documents how women and shepherds historically reduced wildfire risk in Central Italy
Living at higher altitudes in India linked to increased risk of childhood stunting
Scientists discover a new signaling pathway and design a novel drug for liver fibrosis
High-precision blood glucose level prediction achieved by few-molecule reservoir computing
The importance of communicating to the public during a pandemic, and the personal risk it can lead to
Improving health communication to save lives during epidemics
Antimicrobial-resistant hospital infections remain at least 12% above pre-pandemic levels, major US study finds
German study finds antibiotic use in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 appears to have no beneficial effect on clinical outcomes
Targeting specific protein regions offers a new treatment approach in medulloblastoma
$2.7 million grant to explore hypoxia’s impact on blood stem cells
Cardiovascular societies propel plans forward for a new American Board of Cardiovascular Medicine
Hebrew SeniorLife selected for nationwide collaborative to accelerate system-wide spread of age-friendly care for older adults
New tool helps identify babies at high-risk for RSV
Reno/Sparks selected to be part of Urban Heat Mapping Campaign
Advance in the treatment of acute heart failure identified
AGS honors Dr. Rainier P. Soriano with Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award at #AGS24 for proven excellence in geriatrics education
New offshore wind turbines can take away energy from existing ones
Unprecedented research probes the relationship between sleep and memory in napping babies and young children
Job losses help explain increase in drug deaths among Black Americans
Nationwide, 32 local schools win NFL PLAY 60 grants for physical activity
Exposure to noise – even while in the egg – impairs bird development and fitness
Vitamin D availability enhances antitumor microbes in mice
Conservation actions have improved the state of biodiversity worldwide
[Press-News.org] The UK is not investing enough in research into multi-drug resistant infections, say researchersStudy of funding awarded to antimicrobial resistance research projects in the UK calls for political leadership and sustained and targeted spending