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New data show a substantial nationwide increase in potentially deadly infections caused by drug-resistant pathogens.
The updated Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Threats Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that drug-resistant bacteria and fungi cause approximately 9.7 million infections in the United States each year. This is up from 2.8 million in a similar report from 2019.
The estimated deaths in the United States from these drug-resistant pathogens have also risen from 35,000 to 50,800.
The new report also noted that infections that commonly occur in people in the hospital account for more than 42,000 deaths and cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $12 billion.
These findings are based on 2023 data. Officials from the CDC said that the increase in drug-resistant infections from 2019 partially reflects a real rise in infections caused by certain resistant bacteria and fungi. However, they also noted that data sources and methodologies have changed, and direct comparisons between the two reports shouldn’t be made.
“These numbers are alarming by any measure but are particularly sobering when infectious diseases physicians connect real patients with these statistics in their everyday experience,” Wendy Armstrong, MD, President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), said in a statement.
19 drug-resistant pathogens linked to infection increaseThe CDC report highlighted 19 drug-resistant pathogens responsible for the 9.7 million annual infections. Four of these pathogens are classified as urgent threats, 13 as serious threats, and 2 as concerning.
The CDC also maintains a watch list that currently includes six pathogens.
The four pathogens classified as urgent threats are:
William Schaffner, MD, a professor of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told Healthline that the reason for this increase in superbugs is, “Overuse of antibiotics; using them for too long or in circumstances where they do not offer a benefit.”
“An example of the latter is the antibiotic treatment of common viral respiratory infections — antibiotics have no effect on viral infections. The widespread use of antibiotics kills off those bacteria that are susceptible to antibiotics, but then can leave a few bacterial survivors that are resistant to the effect of the antibiotics, resulting in the spread of these resistant strains,” he said.
Monica Gandhi, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, agreed and added, “This widespread use leads to selective drug pressure on the pathogen to evolve resistance to these antibiotics, making them harder to treat.”
“The risk to public health from these bugs is substantial. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates up to 5 million deaths from these bugs worldwide every year, making these a substantial public health threat,” said Gandhi.
Candida auris tops the listCandida auris tops the list of urgent threats.
Cases have increased nearly tenfold since the first detection in hospitals 10 years ago. This includes a more than 50% jump between 2022 and 2023.
Candida auris is a fungus that is almost completely resistant to one class of antifungal medications. It has also shown emerging resistance to the other two classes.
This fungus is often found on people’s skin, spreads rapidly in healthcare settings like hospitals, and affects some of the most vulnerable individuals.
CRE is increasingly difficult to treatCRE is a family of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. They have become increasingly difficult to treat and can share resistance with other bacteria.
These bacteria also pose a significant threat to people in hospitals, especially those with devices such as ventilators and catheters. A recent study found that CRE cases at U.S. hospitals increased by 18% between 2019 and 2023.
While those in hospitals are especially vulnerable to CRE, 67% of the cases in 2023 were in the community. However, some of these cases may have occurred in people with recent exposure to healthcare.
Untreated neisseria gonorrhoeae may lead to other conditionsNeisseria gonorrhoeae is the bacterium that causes gonorrhea, which is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections.
The CDC report noted that only a few antibiotics can effectively treat this infection.
Without effective treatment, gonorrhea can lead to:
Preventing drug-resistant superbugsThere are ways you can help prevent these superbugs:
“[One] way individuals can help prevent the evolution of these superbugs is to not ask for antibiotics from their providers or urgent care settings in the setting of a viral infection,” said Gandhi.
What experts and organizations are doing to reduce superbugsExperts and organizations like the CDC are working together to find ways to reduce the spread of these superbugs.
A few of these include:
“Professional organizations and hospitals are educating their doctors and staff about the antibiotic resistance problem and have created reviews of practice patterns to encourage the appropriate use of antibiotics,” said Schaffner.
Gandhi added that organizations should institute procedures, such as “antimicrobial stewardship programs,” to ensure that providers do not prescribe antibiotics for non-bacterial infections and narrow antibiotics as soon as possible.
The Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance (PASTEUR) Act aims to revitalize antibiotic and antifungal development by changing the way the federal government pays for novel antimicrobials.
This act was reintroduced in Congress in February and is currently under review.
The focus on reducing the spread of superbugs and developing new antibiotics is important.
“You really cannot have all the benefits of modern medicine, even outside the realm of infectious diseases, without effective antibiotics. It all goes away,” Haley Ann Pritchard, MD, medical director of infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship at Eskenazi Health Hospital, said in a statement.