Vietnam appears to be resistant to all antibiotics

Antibiotic resistance in Vietnam is increasing with the emergence of several viruses resistant to all drugs.

At the national scientific conference on emergency resuscitation and anti-poisoning last week in Hanoi, Prof. Nguyen Gia Binh, Chairman of the Emergency and Resuscitation Association expressed concern about antibiotic resistance in our country. .

According to him, most medical examination and treatment facilities are facing the spread of bacteria resistant to many antibiotic groups. In which, the situation of drug resistance in the southern provinces is more serious.

At intensive care units, this problem is even more difficult, because it focuses on the most severe patients, through many treatment departments.

Picture 1 of Vietnam appears to be resistant to all antibiotics
With the speed of antibiotic resistance as fast as it is now, in the next few decades, many common diseases no longer cure.

Associate Prof. Dr. Doan Mai Phuong, Head of Microbiology Department, Bach Mai Hospital, said that in the southern provinces, the rate of Ecoli (intestinal bacteria) resistant to antibiotics is up to 74.6%; the resistance rate of bacteria causing up to 60% of infection with K. pneumoniae; A.baumannii (causing hospital infections) has a resistance rate to most antibiotics at over 90% .

For carbapenem antibiotics , the most powerful antibiotic group today also has a rate of up to 50%, especially the gram-negative bacteria carrying resistance genes such as Beta lactamase.

Assoc. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Medical Management Administration, Ministry of Health said that while many developed countries still use 1st generation antibiotics effectively, Vietnam has had to use generation antibiotics. 3 and 4.

More worryingly, in our country, there have been some types of viruses resistant to all kinds of antibiotics. The most common are intestinal gram-negative bacteria .

Antibiotics doubled

The World Health Organization places Vietnam in the group of countries with the highest antibiotic resistance rates in the world.

Since 2009, the number of antibiotic drugs sold in Vietnam has doubled.

The reason is that 88% of urban antibiotics are sold without prescription, in rural areas the rate is up to 91%.

Picture 2 of Vietnam appears to be resistant to all antibiotics
Patients with MDR-TB were treated at Dong Thap Lung Hospital.

Doctors use antibiotics unreasonably. According to a survey of Cho Ray Hospital, about 50% of antibiotics are unreasonably prescribed by doctors; 32% of doctors indicated the use of antibiotics for non-infected patients; 33% of doctors use prolonged and unnecessary antibiotics .

While the speed of finding new antibiotics in the world does not keep up with the increase of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

For more than 5 years (from 1983 to 1987), the US Food and Drug Administration only issued certificates for 18 antibiotics. Since 2008, no new antibiotics have been found.

With this situation, WHO estimates that by 2050, 1 person will die every 3 seconds due to drug-resistant viruses, equivalent to about 10 million people every year. Meanwhile, common diseases like coughing or just a cut can be fatal.

In order to limit this situation, the Minister of Health issued a decision to establish a technical group to monitor drug resistance from 2017-2020.

The group will be tasked with participating in coordination, evaluation, reporting on monitoring of drug resistance and providing solutions to prevent the increase of drug resistance of common pathogenic bacteria.