Media alert: Climate change may increase global burden of superbugs
La Trobe University
Tuesday, April 29
A new study published in Nature Medicine highlights the link between anti-microbial resistance – otherwise known as superbugs – and socioeconomic and environmental factors, and the urgent need to broaden management strategies.
A La Trobe University academic was involved in the study and is available to comment on the findings. The study, Changing climate and socioeconomic factors contribute to global antimicrobial resistance, was led by researchers from Sun Yat-sen University and Peking University, in China.
Professor Chaojie Liu, School of Psychology and Public Health
Contact: T: +613 94791715, E: [email protected] or [email protected]
The following can be attributed to Professor Chaojie Liu:
“Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a growing threat to global health, disproportionately impacting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and compromising patient outcomes. A new analysis of 4,502 AMR monitoring records—spanning 32 million isolates from 101 countries between 1999 and 2022—examines how socioeconomic and environmental factors drive the spread of AMR.
“Using predictive models under different scenarios, including antimicrobial consumption reductions and climate change pathways, the study reveals strong associations between AMR and factors such as rising temperatures, PM2.5 pollution, water runoff, healthcare spending, and immunisation coverage.
“Findings show that AMR trajectories will diverge sharply depending on national development strategies, with LMICs facing especially steep challenges under climate change pressures. Critically, the research underscores that focusing solely on antibiotic overuse is insufficient.
“Without embedding AMR management into broader sustainable development efforts, the global burden of resistance is projected to worsen dramatically by 2050.”
ENDS