Overview

• About 9,600 deaths in 2019 were directly attributable to resistant pathogens, meaning those patients likely would have survived with susceptible bacteria.
• Fatal cases were most often tied to bloodstream, respiratory or abdominal infections, according to the analysis.
• A large share of the burden was linked to a small set of bacteria, including Escherichia coli among the most prominent species.
• The assessment was conducted by the Robert Koch Institute with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and published in the journal Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy - Antimicrobial Resistance.
• The RKI urges reinforced prevention, targeted control measures and prudent antibiotic use, noting that comprehensive national estimates after 2019 are not yet available.