•  A common ingredient found in toothpastes and hand washes could be contributing to the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, a study has found.

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it. As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others.
• The study, led by Jianhua Guo from University of Queensland in Australia, focused on triclosan, a compound used in more than 2,000 personal care products.
• While it was well-known the overuse and misuse of antibiotics could create ‘superbugs’, researchers were unaware that other chemicals could also induce antibiotic resistance until now.
• These chemicals are used in much larger quantities at an everyday level, so you end up with high residual levels in the wider environment, which can induce multi-drug resistance.
• The discovery should be a wake-up call to re-evaluate the potential impact of such chemicals.
• Antimicrobial resistance has become a major threat to public health globally with about 700,000 people a year dying from superbug infections.
• The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance report predicted this will reach 10 million deaths a year by 2050 if no action is taken now.

The Hindu