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This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment

Drug-resistant sepsis threatens newborns across Southeast Asia, study warns

Researchers found antibiotic-resistant bacteria driving nearly 80 per cent of sepsis cases in newborns in a number of Asian nations

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Researchers found antibiotic-resistant bacteria driving nearly 80 per cent of sepsis cases in newborns in five Southeast Asian countries. Photo: Shutterstock
Kolette Lim
Life-saving treatments for newborns suffering from sepsis are becoming dangerously ineffective across Southeast Asia, according to new research, with experts warning that drug-resistant bacteria are putting thousands of infants at risk.
A study led by the University of Sydney and published in The Lancet this month warns that drug-resistant bacteria are behind nearly 80 per cent of sepsis cases in newborns across five Asian countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Sepsis occurs when the body’s immune system has an extreme reaction to infection, which can lead to organ failure or death.

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The team analysed more than 15,000 blood samples from newborns in the five countries and concluded that the vast majority of infections were caused by a type of bacteria likely resistant to current treatments.

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Researchers said the findings from the five countries, which each had high rates of sepsis in newborns, highlighted the urgent need to develop new drugs to combat the issue.

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“We are running out of effective treatments for babies with invasive infections,” Michelle Harrison, one of the study’s authors, told This Week in Asia.

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