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Despite a growing awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in recent years, it is one of the top ten threats to global public health and was associated with almost 5 million deaths in 2019. Its potential impact on the world’s economy is just as devastating, with the World Health Organization (WHO) predicting a $100 trillion impact by 2050 if no action is taken.

We simply cannot allow this to happen. But overcoming this monumental challenge will take a cross-sector effort in which we all, from clinicians to researchers, drug developers to diagnostics experts, play our part. 

We may have left the acute phase of the coronavirus pandemic behind us, but its legacy is still being felt in a number of ways – including the acceleration of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures, resistant hospital-onset infections and deaths both increased at least 15% in 2020, and the worrying trend continued into 2021.1 This was despite mortality from antimicrobial resistance decreasing by 18% overall and almost 30% in hospitals between 2012 and 2017.1 So what drove such significant change during the pandemic and post-pandemic period, and what does it tell us about the importance of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS)? 

Antimicrobial stewardship is a major weapon in the war on AMR – and effective diagnostics are a crucial part of the jigsaw puzzle. Because if we do not act, including using new and existing antibiotics as responsibly as possible, deaths from this “silent pandemic” could rise dramatically in the years ahead.¹

In recent years, awareness campaigns and policy decisions have contributed to a “better safe than sorry” approach to treating sepsis. However, such models mean patients may receive unnecessary antibiotics – a trend that can act as a contributing factor to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). If we are to balance the twin dangers of sepsis and AMR, we need to consider how we utilize every weapon in our arsenal.