A recent Gavi study found that newborn babies in Nigeria are born with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, specifically colistin-resistant bacteria, in their systems.
Gavi, a vaccine alliance, made this known in a post on X on Sunday.
The organization said colistin is one of the last remaining effective antibiotics to treat life-threatening infections such as pneumonia.
Study
According to them, the study, carried out between 2015 and 2017, collected samples from 4,907 newborns and their mothers in three hospitals in Kano and Abuja.
He said the results showed that one percent of the samples had genes that conferred colistin resistance in 41 mothers and eight babies, adding that while the percentage may seem low, it is alarming that some babies carried colistin-resistant bacteria within their first week of life.
The health agency said colistin is rarely used in Nigerian hospitals and clinics, suggesting resistance may have arisen from the country's increasing use of colistin in agricultural settings.
This is a common practice worldwide, where antibiotics are used in large quantities to grow crops and in animal feed to treat and reduce the risk of infection in livestock.
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Antimicrobial resistance
Citing the World Health Organization (WHO), the organization said antimicrobial resistance is one of the major threats to public health and global development, stating that overuse and misuse of antibiotics in human medicine and agriculture have accelerated this crisis, with sub-Saharan Africa bearing the brunt of the consequences.
He further said that Nigeria has one of the highest rates of deaths associated with antimicrobial resistance, including sepsis, with 23.5 deaths per 100,000 people.
He also said sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the immune system has an extreme response to an infection and antibiotics are the primary treatment.
The study's findings raise concerns about the long-term effects of antibiotic resistance in newborns, adding that if these colistin-resistant bacteria remain in mothers or babies, it may increase their chances of acquiring future drug-resistant infections.
Factor contributing to antibiotic resistance
According to the study, the global use of antibiotics in agriculture contributes significantly to the growing resistance.
In 2016, mobile colistin genes were discovered in E. coli bacteria on a pig farm in China, leading to a complete ban on agricultural use of colistin in that country.
However, he said European countries continue to export livestock feed containing colistin to low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria, perpetuating the cycle of resistance.
They also called for urgent action to be taken to globally ban the indiscriminate agricultural use of colistin, in order to preserve this crucial antibiotic for when it is urgently needed.
However, he noted that this needs to be balanced with alternative solutions to maintain food production and support farmers' livelihoods.
The health body also said that with the world's population projected to increase by around 2 billion by 2050, demand for affordable meat will only increase.
Investing in hospital infection prevention and control programs, improving water, sanitation and hygiene facilities on farms, and responsibly using antibiotics in agriculture are crucial steps to mitigate this crisis.