Antimicrobial Resistance in the Developing Nations of BRICS
Open Access
- Author:
- Jeong, Stephanie Da-yeon
- Area of Honors:
- Biology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. James Harold Marden, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. James Harold Marden, Thesis Honors Advisor
Kenneth Charles Keiler, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- antimicrobial resistance
Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa
TB
MDR-TB
MRSA
PRSP - Abstract:
- Contemporarily, one of the most daunting challenges in the medical field is bacterial resistance to general antibiotics. Resistance is quickly evolving into an unsolved crisis in developed and developing nations alike, plaguing populations and preventing deliverance of effective health care. This thesis focuses on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in five countries of comparable newly burgeoning economic status: Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa. These developing countries, collectively coined by and known to economists as BRICS, have all reached a similar stage of newly advanced economic development in the past decade and are expected to become significant forces in the global economy. It is necessary to understand current trends in AMR in these nations to allow for the development of strong monitoring systems and to encourage an awareness of AMR-related issues facing these growing economic powers. This thesis explores three commonly occurring infectious disease and their resistant counterparts: tuberculosis (TB), Staphylococcus aureus (Staph), and Streptococcus pneumonia (pneumonia). Each BRICS is analyzed according to factors that, according to WHO, have significant roles in the prevalence of AMR worldwide: surveillance and monitoring systems, medicine distribution methods, and diagnostic and therapeutic tools. To obtain an assessment of the current situation regarding each disease in each country, the primary literature regarding antimicrobial resistance is evaluated and potential trends in resistance are elucidated. Finally, suggestions for potential future work to combat the spread of resistance are made.