We use cookies to improve user experience. Choose what cookies you allow us to use. You can read more about our Cookie Policy in our Privacy Policy

Technology

logo
How AI Could Help Combat Antibiotic Resistance Antibiotic resistance is a fast-growing public health crisis, causing more than a million global deaths annually and contributing to nearly 5 million more. These infections are more difficult and more expensive to treat than typical infections and are responsible for longer hospital stays, driving up costs for hospitals and patients alike.Treatment mostly comes down to guesswork on the part of physicians. Ara Darzi, a surgeon and director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, says AI-powered diagnostics offer a better way.“We're standing, right now, in 2026, at the first genuine inflection point in this crisis,” Darzi said on April 16 at WIRED Health in London.The overuse and misuse of antibiotics and a lack of new drug development have been fueling the rise of resistant microbes. When bacteria are exposed to levels of antibiotics that don't immediately kill them, they develop defense mechanisms to survive. Unnecessary prescriptions allow bacteria to develop immunity, rendering life-saving medications ineffective. It means a dwindling list of treatment options for patients with serious infections.The problem is set to get worse. A 2024 report in The Lancet predicted that drug-resistant infections could cause 40 million deaths by 2050.Traditional diagnostics to determine an antibiotic-resistant infection usually take two to three days, as they require culturing bacteria from a sample. But for some infections, such as sepsis, that is time

Read more

logo

Featured Ads

News Tips:

If you have a news tip for us please call us at+1(718)434-6566 or e-mail us at [email protected].