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Topic last updated: 29 Sept 2021

- Biology
- Chemistry
- PSHE / Citizenship studies
- Science
- 16+
- 55

Antimicrobial resistance

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Consequences of antimicrobial resistance

Many infections are becoming more difficult to treat due to antimicrobial resistance- this is a global health crisis!

In 2016, approximately 700,000 people died due to antimicrobial resistance. If nothing changes, by 2050 antimicrobial resistance will result in 10 million deaths per year. This represents one death every three seconds due to antimicrobial resistance by 2050.

There are specific microbes that are of particular concern. These microbes are extremely difficult to kill because they are resistant to multiple antimicrobial medicines (often because of multiple resistance mechanisms). Some examples of these microbes are given below.

Petri dish growing Candida auris

Candida auris

Type of microorganism	Fungus
Type of infection caused	Ear, bloodstream, brain and heart.
Danger to humans	1 in 3 people with a Candida auris infection die.
Global distribution	Europe, North America, South America, Asia.
Resistance status	Resistant to fluconazole and amphotericin B. Varying resistance levels to other azole antifungals have been reported.

Staphylococcus aureus shown under scanning electron micrograph

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Type of microorganism	Bacteria
Type of infection caused	Skin, wound, pneumonia and bloodstream.
Danger to humans	20-50% of patients with a MRSA infection die.
Global distribution	Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa.
Resistance status	Resistant to methicillin. Cephalosporin resistance has also been reported.

Fluorescent stained Neisseria gonorrhoeae shown under fluorescent microscopy

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Type of microorganism	Bacteria
Type of infection caused	Causes gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted disease. Gonorrhoea can cause permanent health problems such as infertility in both men and women.
Danger to humans	In rare cases this infection can spread to the bloodstream (which is life threatening).
Global distribution	North America, South America, Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe.
Resistance status	Resistant to cephalosporins, tetracycline and azithromycin.

Clostridium difficile shown under scanning electron microscopy

Clostridioides difficile

Type of microorganism	Bacteria
Type of infection caused	Diarrhoea
Danger to humans	6-30% of patients suffering from Clostridium difficile infections die.
Global distribution	Europe, Northern America, Australia, Asia.
Resistance status	Resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis shown under scanning electron microscopy

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Type of microorganism	Bacteria
Type of infection caused	Tuberculosis -, which is primarily a lung infection.
Danger to humans	In the extreme cases -, mortality rates of 50-60% have been reported. Responsible for 250,000 deaths each year.
Global distribution	Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australia, Asia.
Resistance status	Resistant to isoniazid, rifampin and some fluoroquinolones. Resistance to amikacin, kanamycin and capreomycin has also been reported.

Chlamydia trachomatis shown under scanning electron microscopy

Chlamydia trachomatis

Type of microorganism	Bacteria
Type of infection caused	Causes chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease. Mostly asymptomatic, but if untreated can cause infertility in women and sexually acquired reactive arthritis in men.
Danger to humans	It is not life threatening however, it is important to treat it properly.
Global distribution	Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australia, Asia.
Resistance status	No resistant strains have been found in patients suffering from the infection. However, experiments have shown they can develop antimicrobial resistance¹.

Possible further reading

Tuberculosis, WHO
A killer fungus is spreading through UK hospitals, Independent
Gonorrhoea, CDC

Sources

Sandoz and Rockey (2010). “Antibiotic resistance in Chlamydiae”. Future Microbiology. Link to source.

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