Five types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are particularly dangerous

Salmonella, tuberculosis and gonorrhea disable normal antibiotics, causing nearly one million deaths each year.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when the bacteria change themselves to neutralize the effect of the drug. This resistance mechanism has many forms, which can spread from bacteria to other bacteria and threaten human life through seemingly tiny wounds.

Here are five scary antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the last 5 years, according to ABC.

Strongly resistant bacteria Salmonella typhi

Salmonella typhi is capable of spreading widespread typhoid to 21 million people worldwide, about 223,000 deaths each year. In November 2016, Pakistan recorded a outbreak of Salmonella typhi that caused 858 cases of infection and four deaths in the same province. Currently, only oral antibiotics azithromycin has effects on Salmonella typhi.

Salmonella typhi switched from multidrug-resistant (at least 3 groups) to extreme resistance (resistant to all but two antibiotic groups) due to plasmid, a piece of DNA carrying resistance genes. If another plasmid is found, Salmonella typhi will invalidate the last two antibiotic groups.

Extremely resistant bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis

TB bacteria kill 1.7 million people every year.(Photo: WW).

Bacteria TB hidden deep in human body cells. To cure TB, patients need up to 6 months of continuous treatment with 4 antibiotics.

An estimated 6% to 13% of new cases of tuberculosis are multi-resistant, the most common in Europe and Russia. Multidrug-resistant bacteria prolong treatment (from 18 to 24 months), costly and damage the kidneys and other organs. Moreover, the successful treatment rate is only 30% so the spread of TB bacteria to more than 123 countries is alarming.

All-resistant bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae

Klebsiella pneumoniae is abundant in skin, intestines, and soil and extends to many deadly infections when the immune system weakens. Because this strain of bacteria is very common in hospitals, it has become one of the top health hazards.

In 2013, 8,000 cases in the United States were reported to be multidrug-resistant in relation to Klebsiella pneumoniae, 50% of cases developed into fatal sepsis. By 2016, this bacterium is resistant to all 26 common antibiotics.

All-resistant bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria on a microscope.(Photo: ABC).

Characteristics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa similar to Klebsiella pneumoniae. Every year in the United States there are about 51,000 cases of this bacterium, of which 400 deaths.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the leading cause of death in cystic fibrosis. In 2013, more than 42% of patients with chronic cystic fibrosis were treated with colistin, the last 'defensive barrier' because this bacterium is resistant to all other antibiotics available.

Strong resistance bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Around 78 million people in the world suffer from gonorrhea due to infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, of which about one third are resistant to at least one antibiotic. Recently, the literature also recorded a new strain resistant to all but one antibiotic. This is very worrying because gonorrhea spreads quickly, especially in people with multiple partners.

Although not life-threatening, gonorrhea leads to serious and prolonged health problems such as infertility. In rare cases, gonorrhea can spread into the bloodstream, causing septic shock and death.

The bacteria can mutate or transmit antibiotic resistance genes to each other. Therefore, over time, all strains of bacteria will be resistant to all antibiotics. However, people still have the opportunity to reduce this ability if proper antibiotics are used, invest in research and development of antibiotics and vaccines as well as new diagnostic tools.