Bacterial and viral drug resistance kills more people than HIV and Malaria, according to a new study.

With the Omicron version of the coronavirus resurfacing as a worldwide menace, a new study presents a bleak picture of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which poses a huge threat to civilization. Everyone is at risk from AMR, according to a study published in the medical journal Lancet, but data reveals that young children are most affected.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) develops when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve over time and lose their ability to respond to antibiotics, making infections more difficult to treat and raising the risk of disease transmission, severe illness, and death.
According to the findings published in the Lancet, AMR is a primary cause of death worldwide, outnumbering HIV/AIDS and Malaria. According to the study, an estimated 4.95 million individuals died in 2019 from at least one drug-resistant infection, with AMR directly responsible for 1.27 million of those fatalities.
Meanwhile, one out of every five deaths caused by AMR occurred in children under the age of five, typically from diseases that were previously curable. “This paper is an important step in allowing us to see the entire scope of the problem.” If we want to stay ahead in the war against AMR, we need to use these estimates to course-correct action and encourage innovation,” says Professor Chris Murray, co-author of the paper and Director of the AMR Research Center.
According to the study, which included 471 million individual records from 204 countries, “we are not inventing fast enough to generate effective vaccines, medications, and treatments,” as 63 new antibiotics were licenced for clinical use between 1980 and 2000. Between 2000 and 2018, that number dropped to just 15.

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With 255,000 deaths attributable to AMR in only one year, Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of the burden. The most prevalent causes of death in high-income countries are Escherichia coli, which commonly causes kidney infections, and Staphylococcus aureus, which is commonly acquired in hospitals and can cause bloodstream infections.
“Because bacteria have evolved resistant to treatment, common illnesses such as lower respiratory tract infections, bloodstream infections, and intra-abdominal infections are now killing hundreds of thousands of people every year.” This includes previously treatable illnesses including pneumonia, hospital-acquired infections, and foodborne illnesses, according to the researchers.
The paper’s new estimations were pre-released to G7 Health Ministers in June 2021, who agreed that “AMR must be prioritised as part of initiatives to enhance global health systems.”
“AMR is already one of humanity’s most pressing problems. Families and communities are cruelly feeling the brunt of the silent AMR pandemic behind these new numbers. This information must be used as a warning signal to motivate action at all levels.