COVID-19 pandemic reversed years of progress against antimicrobial resistance
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The COVID-19 pandemic reversed years of progress against antimicrobial resistance in the United States, with resistant hospital-onset infections and deaths both increasing at least 15% during the first year, according to a new CDC report.
“This setback can and must be temporary,” Michael Craig, MPP, director of the CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Coordination & Strategy Unit, said in a press release. “The COVID-19 pandemic has unmistakably shown us that antimicrobial resistance will not stop if we let down our guard; there is no time to waste.”
According to the report, during the first year of the pandemic, more than 29,400 people died from antimicrobial-resistant infections commonly associated with health care — including 40% who acquired the infection while in the hospital.
The report showed that resistant infections increased 15% from 2019 to 2020 among seven common pathogens, but researchers also found that data were delayed or lacking for half of the 18 pathogens listed in the CDC’s 2019 report.
The CDC said the increase in resistant infections has reversed much of the progress made in infection prevention and control progress over the last decade.
“The best way to avert a pandemic caused by an antimicrobial-resistant pathogen is to identify gaps and invest in prevention to keep our nation safe,” Craig said.
Further analysis of common pathogens showed a 78% increase in carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter infections, a 32% increase in multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, a 14% increase in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus infections and a 13% increase in MRSA infections.
Antifungal-resistant infections also increased in 2020, including a 60% increase in Candida auris infections. Infections caused by other Candida species increased 26%.
“With rates of antimicrobial-resistant infections rising quickly, systemic changes are urgently needed to protect public health,” Infectious Diseases Society of America President Daniel P. McQuillen, MD, FIDSA, said in a statement. “This is no longer a future crisis but one that is at America’s doorstep and needs to be addressed now.”
McQuillen said federal funding is needed for the CDC’s antimicrobial resistance programs and that Congress should prioritize passing the bipartisan PASTEUR Act, which would use a Netflix-style subscription model to reimburse pharmaceutical companies for antibiotics.
“Taking action now will save lives,” McQuillen said.
Among the most common health care-associated infections, the only reported decrease in 2020 was for Clostridioides difficile, “likely driven in part by changes in health care-seeking behavior,” the report said. C. difficile infections have been on the decline since 2017, according to the report.
References:
COVID-19 reverses progress in fight against antimicrobial resistance in U.S. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0712-Antimicrobial-Resistance.html. Posted on July 12, 2022. Accessed on July 13, 2022.
U.S. must curb rising rate of resistance to antimicrobials. https://www.idsociety.org/news--publications-new/articles/2022/u.s.-must-curb-rising-rate-of-resistance-to-antimicrobials. Posted on July 12, 2022. Accessed on July 13, 2022.
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CDC. COVID-19: US impact on antimicrobial resistance, special report, 2022;doi:10.15620/cdc:117915.
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