AMR Insights brought together 60 scientists around the world to discuss the potential impact of COVID-19 on AMR

This is yet another collaborative publication with 22 co-authors and 38 acknowledged contributors (that is Sixty collaborators) spread across the world. Just imagine how much of coordination is required to take everyone’s point of view yet not hurt the relationship. Hatsoff to Shamshul and Maarten who as the primary author and coordinator respectively did an amazing job! I contributed to the AMR and the microbiome sections of the paper. Read on the full text available for free to see this global perspective!

This research discussion was executed after I joined Acharya Institutes as the Campus Director of the Acharya group of Institutions- from 2020.

1. Shamshul Ansari, 2. John P Hays, 3. Andrew Kemp, 4. Raymond Okechukwu, 5. Jayaseelan Murugaiyan, 6. Mutshiene Deogratias Ekwanzala, 7. Maria Josefina Ruiz Alvarez, 8. Maneesh Paul-Satyaseela, 9. Chidozie Declan Iwu, 10. Clara Balleste-Delpierre, 11. Ed Septimus, 12. Lawrence Mugisha, 13. Joseph Fadare, 14. Susmita Chaudhuri, 15. Vindana Chibabhai, 16. J M Rohini W W Wadanamby, 17. Ziad Daoud, 18. Yonghong Xiao, 19. Thulasiraman Parkunan, 20. Yara Khalaf, 21. Nkuchia M M’Ikanatha, 22. Maarten B M van Dongen

JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance, Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2021, dlab038 https://doi.org/10.1093/jacamr/dlab038

The potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global antimicrobial and biocide resistance: an AMR Insights global perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a serious public health challenge in all countries. However, repercussions of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections on future global health are still being investigated, including the pandemic’s potential effect on the emergence and spread of global antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Critically ill COVID-19 patients may develop severe complications, which may predispose patients to infection with nosocomial bacterial and/or fungal pathogens, requiring the extensive use of antibiotics. However, antibiotics may also be inappropriately used in milder cases of COVID-19 infection. Further, concerns such as increased biocide use, antimicrobial stewardship/infection control, AMR awareness, the need for diagnostics (including rapid and point-of-care diagnostics) and the usefulness of vaccination could all be components shaping the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this publication, the authors present a brief overview of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated issues that could influence the pandemic’s effect on global AMR.

Collaborators & Affiliations

1. Shamshul Ansari, Department of Microbiology, Chitwan Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal
2. John P Hays, Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam (Erasmus MC), Rotterdam, The Netherlands
3. Andrew Kemp, Scientific Advisory Board of the British Institute of Cleaning Sciences, Northampton, UK
4. Raymond Okechukwu, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Agulu Campus, Nigeria
5. Jayaseelan Murugaiyan, Department of Biology, SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh, India
6. Mutshiene Deogratias Ekwanzala, Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa
7. Maria Josefina Ruiz Alvarez, Research Coordination and Support Service, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy
8. Maneesh Paul-Satyaseela, Acharya Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India
9. Chidozie Declan Iwu, School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
10. Clara Balleste-Delpierre, IS Global, Hospital Clı´nic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
11. Ed Septimus, Department of Population, Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA, USA, Texas A&M College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
12. Lawrence Mugisha, College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Biosecurity (COVAB), Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
13. Joseph Fadare, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
14. Susmita Chaudhuri, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, India
15. Vindana Chibabhai, Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of the Witwatersrand, and Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
16. J M Rohini W W Wadanamby, Department of Microbiology, Lanka Hospital Diagnostics, Lanka Hospital 578, Elvitigala Mw, Colombo, Sri Lanka
17. Ziad Daoud, Department of Clinical Microbiology & Infection Prevention, Michigan Health Clinics-Saginaw, MI, USA and Department of Foundational Sciences, CMED-CMU, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA
18. Yonghong Xiao, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis & Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
19. Thulasiraman Parkunan, Department of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus, Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India
20. Yara Khalaf, Department of Epidemiology, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
21. Nkuchia M M’Ikanatha, Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Harrisburg, PA, USA
22. Maarten B M van Dongen, AMR Insights, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The following 38 members of the Global AMR Insights Ambassador Network are acknowledged in the publication for supporting us in preparing this manuscript:

1. Herman W. Barkema,
2. Steffanie Strathdee,
3. Emmanuel Benyeogor,
4. Uzairue Leonard Ighodalo,
5. Kurcheti Pani Prasad,
6. Carlos M.,
7. Yoshiaki Gu,
8. Sabiha Essack,
9. Dilan de Silva,
10. Akke Vellinga,
11. Wagih Mommtaz Ghannam,
12. Najib Auwal Tsoho,
13. M. H. F. Sakeena,
14. Rhoda Ilenwabor,
15. Dhanuraj (Raj) Shetty,
16. Arnold Ayebare,
17. Zoumana Isaac Traore,
18. Ola Henry,
19. Amritanjali Kiran,
20. Rhoda Ilenwabor,
21. Luisa Fernanda Toro,
22. Adil Smail,
23. Anne Amulele,
24. Luria Leslie Founou,
25. Prathamesh S. Sawant,
26. Esther Buregyeya,
27. Enrique Castro-Sanchez,
28. Javier Moreno-Morales,
29. Mina Izadjoo,
30. Andrea Gori,
31. Debra Goff,
32. Arielle Blocker,
33. Giovanna Forte,
34. Muhammad Farooq Tahir,
35. Mathew Diggle,
36. Dipanjan Chakraborty,
37. Anita E. Asamoah and
38. Humphrey Aberi.

Originally published at http://discover.ind.in on June 7, 2021.