Bacterial Pathogens Priority List

May 20, 2024

GS Paper III Science and Technology

Context

The latest Bacterial Pathogens Priority List (BPPL) updated by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights critical priority pathogens as significant global threats.

WHO updates Bacterial Pathogens Priority List

The list features 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grouped into critical, high and medium categories for prioritization.
WHO highlighted salmonella, shigella, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus as high-burden pathogens in low- and middle-income countries, posing significant healthcare challenges.
High-priority pathogens like antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Enterococcus faecium pose unique public health challenges.

About Bacterial Pathogens Priority List

About: The list serves as a new mechanism to prompt research and development that addresses pressing public health needs.
- Divided into three tiers—critical, high, and medium priority—the WHO list aims to guide resource allocation accordingly.

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Priorities	List of Pathogen
Priority 1: Critical	Acinetobacterbaumannii, carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem-resistant, ESBL-producing
Priority 2: High	Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-intermediate and resistant Helicobacter pylori, clarithromycin-resistant Campylobacter spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant Salmonellae, fluoroquinolone-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, cephalosporin-resistant, fluoroquinolone-resistant
Priority 3: Medium	Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-non-susceptible Haemophilusinfluenzae, ampicillin-resistant Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR);

About: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) arises when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites lose their sensitivity to antimicrobial medications.
- Antimicrobials, encompassing antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics, are medications utilized to prevent and manage infectious ailments in humans, animals, and plants.
Challenges: Due to drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medications lose their efficacy, rendering infections challenging or even impossible to treat.
- This escalation raises the likelihood of disease transmission, severe illness, disability, and mortality.
Causes: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs as a natural process over time due to genetic changes in pathogens.
- However, human activities, particularly the inappropriate use and excessive consumption of antimicrobials for treating, preventing, or managing infections in humans, animals, and plants, expedite its emergence and dissemination.

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