CATRIN scientists contributed to the discussion on antibiotic resistance
On Tuesday, April 11, the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic hosted a round-table discussion dedicated to antibiotic resistance. CATRIN’s representatives Radek Zbořil and David Panáček were invited to share their expertise in this field.
The Scientific Director of CATRIN-RCPTM, Radek Zbořil, gave a presentation entitled “The Use of Nanomaterials in Antibacterial Applications and their Tuning for the Prevention of Antimicrobial Resistance”. Among other things, he presented the results of research on which CATRIN collaborates with colleagues from the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and the University Hospital Olomouc.
According to him, during the discussion, there was a particular appeal to doctors and the public to avoid the overuse or excess indications for antibiotics. However, the alarming increase in hospital infections, which infect millions of patients every year, should also be a challenge for the scientific community. These patients usually undergo antibiotic treatment, further exacerbating resistance. Tens of thousands of patients every year succumb to these hospital-acquired infections with resistant bacteria.
“It is the prevention of these infections through the development of new antimicrobial nanosurfaces and modifications of medical devices that we are trying to direct our research towards, in collaboration with colleagues from the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and the University Hospital. The participants were also interested in new graphene technologies that prevent the development of bacterial resistance to nanomaterials and show how to outwit resistant strains.
The round-table discussion was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Public Health, the Institute for State Control of Veterinary Biopreparations and Medicines, and other institutions. The event was held under the auspices of the Chair of the Health Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Zdenka Němečková Crkvenjaš and the member of the committee Josef Flek, who recently visited CATRIN.
According to the available information, 33 000 people die each year in Europe from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Some studies even estimate that if this trend continues at the same rate, it will cause 10 million deaths per year in 2050.