While we spend a lot of time talking about reducing antibiotic resistance it can difficult to get a feel for the size of the problem. The team at BioMerieux have put together some facts and figures that help quantify the problem.

MORTALITY

•  At least 25,000 people die each year in Europe from infections due to five antibiotic- resistant bacteria.
• In the United States, at least 2 million people become infected each year with antibiotic- resistant bacteria and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.
•  In the United States, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections alone kill nearly 19,000 people a year – which is more than die from AIDS.
•  C. difficile now causes about 250,000 hospitalizations and at least 14,000 deaths every  year in the United States.

MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT ORGANISMS

•  In some countries, over 60% of Staphylococcus aureus cases in hospital ICUs are now
  resistant to first-line antibiotics, including methicillin, oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin.
  
• 20 – 30% of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) infections in hospital ICUs in the United States now involve strains not susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins.
  
• Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) cause about 1 of every 3 infections in US
    hospital ICUs according to 2004 CDC data.

INAPPROPRIATE ANTIBIOTIC USE

•  235 million doses of antibiotics are consumed annually in the United States.
• It is estimated that up to 50% of that use is unnecessary. 
  
• Up to 75% of antibiotics are prescribed for acute respiratory tract infections, despite the fact that approximately 80% of respiratory tract infections are caused by viruses. 
  
• In the US, of 41 million antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory infections, 22.5 million (55%) were estimated to have been prescribed for infections unlikely to have a bacterial etiology. 
  
• Around 80% of all antibiotics used in the US are given to farm animals, meaning that only 20% are actually used to treat infections in people.

EXCESS HEALTHCARE EXPENDITURE

•  A recent study calculated annual costs of antibiotic-resistant infections to the U.S. healthcare system to be in excess of $20 billion. 
  
• Infections caused by five multi-resistant bacteria result in approximately 2.5          million extra hospital days annually in Europe.

While not local data, this information does demonstrate the size of the problem of antibiotic resistance globally.

Picture credit:http://www.nesta.org.uk/news/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-10-most-dangerous