b'| INFECTIOUS DISEASE GUIDECDC Report: More Americans Dying from Antibiotic-Resistant InfectionsSignificant progress could be lost without more actionBy Rob SeniorA t the end of last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)Robert R. Redfield, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control released their Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the Unitedand Prevention. The 2013 report propelled the nation toward critical States (AR Threats Report). The news was not particularlyaction and investments against antibiotic resistance. Todays report good, as the agency reported current statistics indicating that almostdemonstrates notable progress, yet the threat is still real. Each of us has three million Americans are infected by antibiotic-resistant bacte- an important role in combating it. Lives here in the United States and ria and fungi annually, with about 35,000 deaths resulting from thearound the world depend on it.infections.Using data sources not previously available, the new report showsTHE GROWING THREAT OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCEthat there were nearly twice as many annual deaths from antibiotic-re- To be precise, the CDC reported 2.87 million antibiotic-resistant bac-sistant infections as CDC originally reported in 2013. Since then, theteria and fungi-related infections annually, with 35,900 deaths occur-new report shows, prevention efforts have reduced deaths from antibi- ring as a result. Moreover, when Clostridioides difficilea bacterium otic-resistant infections by 18 percent overall and by nearly 30 percentnot typically resistant but which can cause life-threatening diarrhea in hospitals. Without continued vigilance, however, this progress mayand is associated with antibiotic useis added to the equation, those be challenged by the increasing burden of some infections. number respectively rise to 3.1 million infections and just over 48,000 The new AR Threats Report shows us that our collective efforts todeaths.ISTOCKstop the spread of germs and preventing infections is saving lives, saysThis years antibiotic resistance threats list tallied 18 total threats, www.elitecme.com |2020| INFECTIOUS DISEASE GUIDE 13'