Hospitals worldwide have recorded an alarming increase in common infections resistant to antibiotics, with scientists warning that deaths from drug resistance will rise sharply in coming years.
One in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections were resistant to antibiotic treatments in 2023, according to the World Health Organization’s Global Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance report. More than 40% of antibiotics have lost potency against common blood, gut, urinary tract and sexually transmitted infections between 2018 and 2023.
The report, which analyzed data on over 23 million bacterial infections from 104 countries, found the problem is most severe and worsening in low and middle-income countries with weaker healthcare systems.
“These findings are deeply concerning,” said Dr Yvan Hutin, director of the WHO’s department of antimicrobial resistance. “As antibiotic resistance continues to rise, we are running out of treatment options and putting lives at risk, especially in countries where infection prevention and control is weak.”
The WHO estimates a third of bacterial infections in southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean were resistant to antibiotics in 2023, with 20% resistance in Africa.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when pathogens evolve to withstand drugs designed to kill them. In 2021, 7.7 million people globally died from bacterial infections, with drug resistance contributing to 4.71 million deaths and directly causing 1.14 million.
The report raises particular concerns about gram-negative bacteria protected by an outer shell, such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which cause severe infections often leading to sepsis, organ failure and death.
Hutin said 40% of E. coli and over 55% of K. pneumoniae are resistant to third-generation cephalosporins, the first-choice treatment. In the WHO African region, resistance often exceeds 70%.
Resistance to critical second-choice antibiotics, particularly carbapenems and fluoroquinolones, is also rising among key gram-negative bacteria including Acinetobacter, K. pneumoniae and salmonella. “These antibiotics are critical for treating severe infections and their growing ineffectiveness is narrowing treatment options,” Hutin said.
Dr Manica Balasegaram at the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership said the report demonstrates drug-resistant infections have reached “a critical tipping point.” He warned that difficult-to-treat gram-negative infections are outpacing antibiotic development, with AMR deaths expected to increase 70% by 2050.
“We are failing to replace antibiotics being lost to resistance, and this latest WHO report shows the consequences are now being felt,” Balasegaram said.