Ukraine's war wounds create dangerous super-bacteria spreading across borders
Drug-resistant infections surge in Ukraineʼs war-time hospitals due to heavy antibiotic use for combat injuries. The problem spreads beyond Ukrainian borders‚ affecting six European nations and Japan
In a war-torn medical system Ihor Kuzin‚ Ukraines deputy health minister points to a growing health-care crisis: super-resistant bacteria are making their way through hospitals
The root-cause is clear-cut — countless war-related injuries need strong anti-bacterial treatment (which doctors must use to save lives in field-hospitals and trauma centers)
Medical facilities face serious road-blocks: out-dated tools poor ventilation and basic testing methods make it hard to spot drug-resistant cases fast. “Unfortunately on the regional level we are using only very outdated and very classical microbiological investigation methods“ Kuzin explains
Some numbers paint a dark picture; about 60% of infections in certain medical centers dont respond to last-resort drugs. The health-care linked infection rate sits at 12.6% — more than twice the EUʼs 5.5% average
The spread goes far beyond Ukraine:
- Six European countries report these resistant strains
- Japan detected similar bacteria
- Global yearly deaths from resistant infections top 1.14 million
We dont want to go back to the era where we cannot treat certain diseases
Progress shows some hope — Ukraine grew from 3 testing labs in 2017 to 100 today but trench-warfare conditions and previous easy-access to anti-biotics (before mid-2022) make the problem worse
