NEWS

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): Large-scale study provides comprehensive assessment of the global burden

A recent publication, which was published in The Lancet at the end of September, has analyzed the global burden of bacterial resistance on human health from 1990 to 2021 and calculated a forecast up to 2050 from this data. Three researchers from the Leibniz research network INFECTIONS contributed to this systematic analysis.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major burden on global health and on many national healthcare systems. According to estimates, a total of 4.71 million deaths were associated to AMR in 2021 alone. The study predicts that  the annual number of deaths could almost double by the year 2050.

The development of mortality over the course of the study period varied greatly between location and age: while mortality among children under 5 years of age decreased significantly, mortality among those over 70 years of age increased sharply. In particular the hospital germ Staphylococcus aureus and bacteria that are resistant to the antibiotic carbapenem led to a large increase in deaths worldwide.

Evaluating changing trends in AMR mortality across time and location is necessary to understand how this important global health threat is developing and where interventions should be prioritized. Given the high variability of AMR burden by location and age, it is important that interventions combine infection prevention, vaccination, minimisation of inappropriate antibiotic use in farming and humans, and research into new antibiotics so that the number of AMR deaths can be kept below the growth forecasted until 2050.

Source:  Naghavi, Mohsen, …, Saeedi Moghaddam, Sahar, …, et al. Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance 1990–2021: a systematic analysis with forecasts to 2050. The Lancet, Volume 404, Issue 10459, 1199 - 1226. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01867-1

Contributing LRA INFECTIONS members:

  • Dr. Jürgen May, Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin (BNITM)
  • Sahar Saeedi Moghaddam, Kiel Institut für Weltwirtschaft (IfW Kiel)
  • Denise Dekker, Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin (BNITM)