Amidst, the global pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the rate at which AMR increases overwhelms the increased efforts to discover new effective antimicrobials. There is a persistent need for alternative treatment modalities so as to keep up with the pace. AMR is the leading cause of death in the world and its health and economic consequences suggest the urgent need for sustainable interventions. Vitamins have consistently proven to have antimicrobial activity as well as slowing down the AMR rate by influencing the AMR genes even towards extensive multidrug resistant strains. Evidences suggest that the use of some vitamins on their own or in combination with existing antimicrobial agents could be a breakthrough towards combating AMR. This will widen the antimicrobial agents' options in the treatment arena, preserve the antimicrobial agents susceptible to develop resistant so that they can be used in severe infections only, reduce the tension and burden of the AMR crisis significantly and give enough room for development of new antimicrobial agents. Moreover, almost all viral, fungal, parasitic and bacterial resistant strains of concern as listed by World Health Organization have been found to be sensitive to several vitamins either synergistically with other antimicrobials or independently. Considering their widened spectrum of immunomodulatory and antimicrobial effect, some vitamins can further be repositioned as prophylactic antimicrobial agents in clinical situations like in presurgeries prophylaxis so as to avoid unnecessary use of antimicrobials especially antibiotics. Various relevant AMR stakeholders should invest in clinical trials and systematic reviews with available data to enable quick repositioning of some potential vitamins as antimicrobial agents as an emergency rapid response towards AMR Crisis. This includes the preparation of guidelines containing specificity of which vitamin to be used for treatment of which type of infection.
Background: The availability of vast amounts of healthcare data, along with the advancements in big data analytics techniques, has led to an unprecedented opportunity for healthcare organizations to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Despite the ongoing digitization of healthcare sector in developing countries, the full adoption of big data analytics in healthcare and the effective realization of its potential benefits still need to be reached. Exploring opportunities and challenges encountered in implementing data analytics in healthcare in developing countries is essential for designing implementation strategies and interventions.
Objective:Exploring opportunities and challenges towards integrating big data analytics technologies in the healthcare industry in developing countries.
Methodology: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar with the keywords "big data analytics", "big data analytics healthcare", "big data analytics healthcare developing countries", "healthcare data analytics", and "healthcare data analytics developing countries". Articles with predetermined keywords and written in English were included in the review.
Results:Big data analytics finds its application in medical images analysis and imaging informatics, population health management, clinical informatics and bioinformatics, as decision support algorithms even in developing countries. The major challenges to the clinical adoption of big data analytics in healthcare in developing countries include the need for more evidence for its practical benefits, competing priorities, the lack of trained personnel for analyzing big healthcare data and the lack of substantial financial investment required.
Conclusion:Integrating big data analytics in developing countries’ healthcare industry can potentially open new avenues for enhancing healthcare delivery. Despite the benefits big data analytics can have in the healthcare industry of developing countries, highlighted strategies should be implemented to address several challenges encountered towards using this technology.
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