AIDS-immunosuppressed populations are more likely to contract antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections

Populations with high prevalence of people immunosuppressed by AIDS are more likely to see the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, according to a study co-authored by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and published in PLOS One.

"People with weakened immune systems are more vulnerable to opportunistic bacterial infections and are often prescribed antibiotics to prevent or treat these infections," said Nina Fefferman, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. UT and co-author of the study. "This increases the exposure of these bacteria to antibiotics, giving them more chances of becoming drug-resistant and contributing to the current serious public health threat of drug-resistant diseases."

The research was led by Ashley DeNegre, who at the time of this study was a PhD student in ecology and evolutionary biology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Kellen Myers, research badistant at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology of UT and at the UT-based National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, also participated in the research.

For the study, scientists used mathematical models to integrate and extend the results of many previous studies to examine the effect on the emergence of antibiotic resistance in two populations: the African nation of Swaziland, where the The prevalence of HIV / AIDS was 27.4 per cent for the population and Indonesia for South-East Asia, where the reported prevalence of HIV / AIDS was much lower at 0.46 per cent.

The results provide a better understanding of the epidemiological patterns in populations heavily affected by AIDS and HIV among immunocompromised individuals, with particular attention paid to low-income communities in developing countries.

"This work should inform public health decision-makers about how antibiotic stewardship should be adapted differently in high-prevalence, AIDS-affected communities to address the growing risk of HIV / AIDS." Drug-resistant infections worldwide, "Fefferman said.