One of six bacterial infections confirmed in a laboratory worldwide in 2023 showed resistance to antibiotic treatments, warns WHO. This means that the medicines are no longer effective – and that wounds and common infections that can otherwise be treated suddenly risk becoming potentially fatal.
In line with the increase in antibiotic resistance, we are running out of treatment alternatives and putting lives at risk, says Yvan J F Hutin, head of WHO's department for antimicrobial resistance.
Antimicrobial-resistant super bacteria cause directly over one million deaths per year according to WHO, and contribute to an additional almost five million deaths each year.
In a study, WHO investigated the prevalence of resistance among 22 different types of antibiotics used to treat infections in the urinary tract, gastrointestinal tract, bloodstream, and gonorrhea. During the five years up to 2023, resistance to 40 percent of the studied medicines increased, with an average annual increase of between 5 and 15 percent, the study shows.
