Deaths from drug-resistant infections surge after Covid pandemic

“Treat antibiotics with respect,” the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has urged, as the number of deaths caused by resistant infections rose for the second year in a row.

The number of people who died from a severe antibiotic-resistant infection in 2022 was the highest since 2019 in a post-pandemic resurgence.

There were 2,202 deaths last year, an increase of 92 on the previous year, while infection rates rose from 55,792 to 58,224. 

In 2020, the number of deaths and infections hit a low of 2,066 and 54,616 respectively, as lockdown measures to prevent the spread of Covid also reduced the transmission of other infections.

They bounced back in 2021 and 2022 as people “returned to normal healthcare behaviours”, although were still lower than pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019 antibiotic-related infections surpassed 59,000, while there were more than 2,300 related deaths.

Crisis ‘very much right with us now’

Health chiefs said the reversal of the downward trend seen during the pandemic was a “crisis”.

Dame Jenny Harries, the chief executive at UKHSA, said: “Antimicrobial resistance is not a crisis of the future, but one that is very much with us right now. 

“We expect that if we get a bacterial infection, an antibiotic will be available to treat us – but sometimes, already, that is simply impossible.”

She said without action “our ability to drive down infections will decrease” and that we must “treat antibiotics with respect and they will be there to help us all in the future”.

People developing infections that are resistant to antibiotics, antivirals or antifungals are likely to become increasingly unwell as their body battles the infection, which may continue to spread.

In worst-case scenarios, this could lead to sepsis – where the body’s immune system attacks itself – organ failure and death.

Increase driven by winter viruses

The Government’s National Action Plan for tackling antimicrobial resistance was to reduce infection rates by 10 per cent between 2018 and 2025. 

However, the post-pandemic increase means the number of severe infections caused by antibiotic resistance in 2022 was just 1.5 per cent lower than 2018’s baseline of 59,162 – and is heading back in the wrong direction.

Dr Colin Brown, the deputy director for antimicrobial resistance at UKHSA, said the increase was “driven by winter viruses”, including last year’s Strep A outbreak, “plus a return to normal healthcare behaviours” following the pandemic.

There has also been a rise of 8.4 per cent in the amount of antibiotics being prescribed compared with 2021. However, this is less than pre-pandemic numbers.

Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest public health challenges we face and something GPs and our teams have worked incredibly hard to reduce over many decades, so it’s very concerning to see this uptick.

“Antibiotics are very important drugs and we need them to remain effective – and everyone, from healthcare and public health professionals to patients, has a duty to use antibiotics responsibly and carefully, to help ensure this.”