Defining and combating antibiotic resistance from One Health and Global Health perspectives

• Published in: Nature microbiology Vol. 4; no. 9; pp. 1432 - 1442
• Main Authors: Hernando-Amado, Sara, Coque, Teresa M., Baquero, Fernando, Martínez, José L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.09.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/326/1762; 631/326/22/1434; 631/326/41/1470; 692/499; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Bacteria - drug effects; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Communicable Diseases - drug therapy; Communicable Diseases - epidemiology; Drug resistance; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Environmental Microbiology; Global Health - legislation & jurisprudence; Global Health - standards; Habitats; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Microbiomes; Microbiota - drug effects; One Health - legislation & jurisprudence; One Health - standards; Parasitology; Perspective; Population genetics; Virology
• ISSN: 2058-5276; 2058-5276
• DOI: 10.1038/s41564-019-0503-9

Several interconnected human, animal and environmental habitats can contribute to the emergence, evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance, and the health of these contiguous habitats (the focus of the One Health approach) may represent a risk to human health. Additionally, the expansion of resistant clones and antibiotic resistance determinants among human-associated, animal-associated and environmental microbiomes have the potential to alter bacterial population genetics at local and global levels, thereby modifying the structure, and eventually the productivity, of microbiomes where antibiotic-resistant bacteria can expand. Conversely, any change in these habitats (including pollution by antibiotics or by antibiotic-resistant organisms) may influence the structures of their associated bacterial populations, which might affect the spread of antibiotic resistance to, and among, the above-mentioned microbiomes. Besides local transmission among connected habitats—the focus of studies under the One Health concept—the transmission of resistant microorganisms might occur on a broader (even worldwide) scale, requiring coordinated Global Health actions. This Review provides updated information on the elements involved in the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance at local and global levels, and proposes studies to be performed and strategies to be followed that may help reduce the burden of antibiotic resistance as well as its impact on human and planetary health. This Perspective discusses the emergence and connectedness of antimicrobial resistance across One Health and Global Health levels, as well as potential strategies for mitigating the burden of such resistance in human and environmental health.