Antimicrobials are treatments designed to kill microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, or protozoa that cause infections.
AMR is the ability of microorganisms to become “superbugs” and nullify the effects of antimicrobial drugs. This results in these drugs becoming ineffective.
Your body cannot become resistant to antimicrobials. It is the microorganisms that can become resistant to the drugs.
AMR is not a problem that can be solved by any one country, or even any one region. We live in a connected world where people, animals, and food travel, and microbes travel with them.6
“Superbugs” cause infections that are difficult to treat. Here are some you may have heard about.
Click to learn more about each from the CDC.
MRSA – Methicillin-resistant S. aureus
MDR- or XDR-TB – Multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis
CRE – Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae
Resistant strains of E. coli
C. difficile
Learn more about resistance rates around the world (and in your community) with an interactive collection of charts and maps that summarize national and subnational data on antimicrobial use and resistance worldwide.
The environment receives antibiotics through a combination of direct application, as well as indirect release through pharmaceutical manufacturing, sewage and animal manure.
Learn the concepts of antibiotic resistance and what actions are needed to meet this global health threat in this free online course “Antibiotic Resistance: the Silent Tsunami”.
This six-week course will inform you about – and empower you to provide – safe, high-quality antibiotic use.
Read and download IDSA/SHEA guidelines or ask for a free hard copy.
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