Antibiotic Resistance Crisis

Abstract

Each year, 23,000 Americans die as a result of antibiotic resistant infections.1 Longer, more expensive hospital stays for treating resistance cost the U.S. health care sector an estimated $21 to $34 billion annually and an additional eight million hospital days.2 Evidence is mounting that these numbers will only grow. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report acknowledging that Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae—a new family of bacteria with high levels of resistance to antibiotics commonly known as “the last resort”—may lead to the death of 50% of infected individuals.3