STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- AMR has been declared one of the top 10 global public health threats to humanity, but it rarely makes front page news, especially now that COVID has entered the arena
- Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic — and its unprecedented promotion of hand sanitizer, antimicrobials and disinfectants — made AMR worse, but it continues to overshadow the growing threat of AMR
- Incidence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales colonization increased from 6.7% in 2019 to 50% in March to April 2020
- Antibiotic use increased throughout the pandemic; about 79% to 96% of people who reported taking antibiotics didn’t have COVID-19 but were taking them in the hopes of preventing infection, even though antibiotics don’t work against viral infections
- While about 15% of people with severe COVID-19 may develop a bacterial co-infection that would require antibiotics, 75% of COVID-19 patients were actually receiving such drugs