New 2019 CDC Report: Antibiotic Resistant Threats in the United States
/In 2019, the CDC released its second Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report. While progress has been made, the report concluded that the threat continues, and more action is needed. The report shows that antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi cause more than 2.8 million infections and 35,000 deaths in the United States each year.
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its updated Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States Report. According to new data, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi cause more than 2.8 million infections and 35,000 deaths in the United States each year. That means, someone in the United States gets an antibiotic-resistant infection every 11 seconds, and every 15 minutes, someone dies.
Due to poor surveillance and reporting of superbug infections, some estimate the number of deaths in the US to be more than four-times higher than the new CDC estimate (more than 153,000 deaths) (Kollef).
While the report shows that some progress has been made, the CDC is particularly concerned about antibiotic-resistant infections that are on the rise, including:
More than half a million resistant gonorrhea infections, twice as many as reported in 2013. Gonorrhea-causing bacteria have developed resistance to all but one class of antibiotics.
Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae are making urinary tract infections harder to treat, especially in women, and could undo progress made in hospitals if allowed to spread there. They are one of the leading causes of death from resistant germs.
Erythromycin-resistant group A Streptococcus infections have quadrupled since the 2013 report. If resistance continues to grow, infections and deaths could rise.
Antibiotic-resistant germs often found in healthcare, including CRE and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), caused more than 85% of the total deaths calculated in the report.
To read the full report, click here.
