Trend Growing antimicrobial and antifungal resistance

Summary

The report describes antimicrobial resistance as a growing global threat. A rising number of antimicrobial drugs can no longer be used against common infections, yet the number of new agents in development is limited. Some research is being done on using bacteriophages for individual patients, but genuine innovation in new antibiotics is lacking, and the current pipeline is not enough to offset the loss of effective antibiotics in the coming years. Alongside antibiotic resistance, resistance to antifungal drugs is also rising, largely because the same substances are used in both agriculture and medicine, and environmental fungi that become resistant through agricultural fungicide use can make human infections harder to treat. The report presents antibiotic stewardship, infection prevention, surveillance and innovation as the main pillars for curbing resistance.