Used in fight against Covid, genomic surveillance could combat antibiotic resistance, say researchers

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) A group of researchers has suggested that the public health problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could be addressed through genomic surveillance, which proved vital in understanding how the Covid-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus evolved and spread.

Antimicrobial or antibiotic resistance occurs when drugs designed to kill infectious bacteria and fungi are rendered ineffective because the microbes have developed an ability to defeat these drugs.

AMR causes substantial sickness and death worldwide, responsible for approximately 1.27 million deaths in 2019. Some estimates suggest that by 2050, it could kill as many as 10 million people each year, the team including researchers from the Indian Council of Medical Research wrote in an article.