Killer Bacteria: Death Toll from Antibiotic Resistance Rises

And they are modern killers that are claiming more and more lives. They are successful because they are resistant to antibiotics.

In the EU and the countries of the European Economic Area alone, the number of deaths attributable to antibiotic resistance against the deadliest bacteria rose from 11,114 in 2007 to 27,249 based on 10 microbial pathogens (for comparability with 2007), or 33,110 based on 16 microbial pathogens in 2015. This result is found in a new study by Alessandro Cassini and 16 co-authors—a true authorial gathering.

Based on data from the European project „EARS“—European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network—the authors calculated mortality and years of life lost due to premature death attributable to specific antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The latter is a statistical gimmick associated with too many uncertainties to be interpreted meaningfully. Deaths, on the other hand, are tangible, which is why we refer to the results of the author collective on the subject of mortality resulting from antibiotic resistance.

• The authors calculated 671,689 infections for the year 2015.
• 33,110 infections resulted in death.
• The mortality rate per infection is thus 4.9%.
• 63.5% of the infections occurred in a hospital or another institution that is actually intended for recovery.
• 72.4% of the 33,110 fatalities (23,976) succumbed in hospitals to the consequences of an infection they had only contracted while in the hospital.

Source: https://sciencefiles.org/2019/04/07/killer-bakterien-zahl-der-toten-durch-antibiotika-resistenz-steigt/