Bacteria are rapidly developing resistance to antibiotics, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday, with one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections now caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
The organization has, for the first time, quantified the problem in relation to 22 antibiotics that are commonly used to treat infections of the urinary tract, gastrointestinal tract, bloodstream, and sexually transmitted gonorrhoea.
The WHO also examined various combinations of bacteria and antibiotics, using the latest figures from 2023. It found that resistance increased in more than 40 per cent of cases between 2018 and 2023, rising by between 5 and 15 per cent per year, depending on the combination of bacteria and antibiotic.
The study analysed 23 million data points from more than 100 countries.
Yvan Hutin, a Director at the WHO, was quoted as saying, “Antimicrobial resistance is widespread and threatening the future of modern medicine. Antibiotic resistance causes many deaths. There are significant regional differences, with the problem particularly prevalent in countries with weak health systems.
“In South-East Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, one in three reported infections is already resistant to the antibiotics studied.”
According to WHO data, 7.7 million people worldwide died from bacterial infections in 2021, with 1.1 million of those deaths directly attributable to antibiotic resistance.
The WHO is urgently calling for more research and development of new antibiotics.
dpa
