Why we need to flatten the superbug curve
Highlighted by the COVID-19 outbreak, bacterial infections and antimicrobial resistance have become top priorities on the global political agenda. It is needless to say that we need a global consensus to flatten the antimicrobial resistance curve, but what does it all go back to? What is the problem really rooted in?
Antibiotics can be defined as medicines used to treat and prevent bacterial infection. Antibiotic resistance is developed when bacteria, in response to antibiotics, evolve and become immune to medicine. This leads to harder-to-treat infections. [1] According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels all over the world (insert ref.).
Antibiotic resistance leads to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs and increased mortality.
To illustrate the problem, Harvard Medical School demonstrate through their video from 2016 just how quickly bacteria become resistant to higher doses of antibiotics. The “Mega-Plate” Petri Dish is built up by barriers of lighter antibiotic concentration by the sides and stronger concentrations towards the middle. The video shows the evolutional race of baceria. As time lapses, new bacterial strains break through stronger and stronger antibiotic barriers; antibiotic resistance in a nutshell.
At Bonalive we look at new principles that go beyond the mechanisms of antibiotics, that is where our promise of Smart Healing™ is rooted. As new antibiotics need to be inserted into the discovery pipeline, we approach the problem of antimicobial resistance from the other alternative direction. The result is Bonalive® granules, currently the only biomaterial with an official claim to inhibit bacterial growth.
Something more about alternative medicine against AMR…
At Bonalive we aim to advance the world’s transition to sustainable solutions for infections, reach out to us to learn more.
Jimmy Lucchesi,
Director, Discovery and Innovation
Bonalive Biomaterials
Bonalive® granules is a CE marked Class III medical device, providing a Smart Healing™ solution for bone infections and bone reconstruction. Bonalive® granules has been proven to naturally inhibit the bacterial growth of up to 50 clinically relevant bacteria strains.* The bacterial growth inhibiting feature is due to two simultaneous chemical and physical processes occurring once the bioactive glass reacts with body fluids.
References:
*Leppäranta et al. 2008; Munukka et al. 2008. Drago et al. 2015. Drago et al. 2014.
** Non-osteoinductive
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