Bacteria Are Increasingly Resistant to Drugs: They Could Cause Millions of Deaths in the Next 25 Years

Scientists predict that by 2050, nearly 40 million deaths will be caused by infections resulting from bacteria resistant to antibiotics and other drugs.

Scientists are urgently calling for the development of new drugs to combat mutant bacteria. Bacteria have the ability to adapt to antibiotics, making it increasingly difficult to treat infections. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry cannot develop new drugs at the same pace as bacteria mutate. This problem is expected to become even more severe in the coming years. 

A team of researchers from the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance reached this conclusion based on the latest data on emerging bacteria. Between 1990 and 2021, drug-resistant bacteria killed an average of more than one million people worldwide each year. However, scientists estimate that by 2050, there will be an almost 70% increase in deaths directly attributable to bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

Specifically, 1.91 million annual deaths directly attributable to infections are expected by 2050, representing a 67.5% increase from the 1.14 million deaths in 2021.

"These results highlight that antimicrobial resistance has been a major threat to global health for decades and that this threat is growing," the scientists stated in a report published in The Lancet.

People of different ages will react differently to infections caused by mutated bacteria. By 2050, deaths from various types of infections among children under five are expected to be halved, while deaths among people aged 70 and over are projected to more than double. This trend is confirmed by statistical data from the past twenty years. During this period, mortality among children under five years of age fell by 50%, while mortality among people aged 70 years and older rose by more than 80%. The decline in infant mortality coincides with significant improvements in infection prevention and control measures, such as vaccination programs for infants and young children.

Overall, deaths from infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria have increased most significantly in five regions: Western Sub-Saharan Africa, Tropical Latin America, North America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. "Now is the time to act to protect people around the world from the threat posed by drug-resistant bacteria," the scientists emphasized.