Sharp global rise in antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals, WHO finds

"Estimates of resistance for some countries might be skewed by healthcare systems reporting data only from specialist hospitals that handle the most severe infections. These findings are deeply concerning, said Dr Yvan Hutin, the director of the WHO's department of antimicrobial resistance. As antibiotic resistance continues to rise, we are running out of treatment options and we are putting lives at risk, especially in countries where infection prevention and control is weak and access to diagnostics and effective medicine is already limited."

"The problem was most severe, and worsening, in low and middle-income countries and those with weaker healthcare systems, according to the World Health Organization's Global Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance report, which gathered data on more than 23m bacterial infections from 104 countries. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) arises when pathogens evolve to withstand the drugs used to kill them. In 2021, 7.7 million people globally died from bacterial infections. Drug resistance contributed to 4.71 million of the deaths, with 1.14 million directly attributed."

Records from more than 23 million bacterial infections across 104 countries show a sharp rise in antibiotic resistance, with one in six laboratory-confirmed infections resistant in 2023. More than 40% of antibiotics lost potency against common blood, gut, urinary tract and sexually transmitted infections between 2018 and 2023. The burden is highest and worsening in low- and middle-income countries and regions with weaker healthcare systems, where infection prevention, diagnostics and access to effective medicines are limited. Estimates may be biased by data from specialist hospitals. Resistance contributed to millions of deaths in 2021, with particular concern over gram-negative pathogens like Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

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