Global burden of antimicrobial resistance

Abstract

Journal of Paediatrics and Child HealthEarly View Heads UpFree Access Global burden of antimicrobial resistance First published: 25 February 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.15931 edited by Craig Mellis (craig.mellis@sydney.edu.au) AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global problem, but this systematic analysis of the burden in 204 countries is the most comprehensive yet in estimating the distribution of and the leading pathogen–drug combinations causing AMR.1 The authors found that 4.95 million deaths (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.62–6.57) were associated with AMR in 2019, of which they determined 1.27 million deaths (95% CI 0.91–1.71) were caused by AMR. The death rate was highest in western Sub-Saharan Africa at 27.3 deaths per 100 000 (20.9–35.3) and lowest in Australasia at 6.5 deaths (4.3–9.4) per 100 000 (Fig. 1). However, the authors found serious data gaps in many low-income settings. The major infectious syndrome, which caused >1.5 million AMR-associated deaths, was lower respiratory infection. The six leading pathogens, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, caused 929 000 (660 000–1 270 000) deaths attributable to AMR in 2019. Met(h)icillin-resistant S. aureus caused >100 000 deaths in 2019, while E. coli resistant to third-generation cephalosporins and/or fluoroquinolones, K. pneumoniae resistant to carbapenems and/or third-generation cephalosporins, carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii, and multidrug-resistant (excluding extensively drug-resistant) M. tuberculosis, in that order, each caused 50 000–100 000 deaths. AMR is a leading cause of death around the world, with the highest burdens in low-resource settings. Fig. 1Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Rate of deaths due to bacterial antimicrobial resistance by region, 2019. Global Burden of Disease (GBD) super region: (), Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia; (), high income; (), Latin America and Caribbean; (), North Africa and Middle east; (), South Asia; (), Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania; (), Sub-Saharan Africa. Resistance: (), Associated with resistance; (), attributable to resistance. Reference 1 Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators. Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: A systematic analysis. Lancet 2022; 399: 629– 55. CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar Reviewer: David Isaacs, david.isaacs@health.nsw.gov.au, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation