Lessons Learned, Initiatives to Support

Conceding that the pandemic has undone much of the nation’s progress on preventing the rise of antimicrobial resistance — especially in hospitals — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged support and funding for key initiatives that include the following:¹

Tracking data: Rapidly identifying changes in drug resistance informs solutions to prevent spread and slow emergence.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the detection and reporting of antimicrobial-resistance data slowed tremendously because of changes in patient care, testing, treatment, and the capacity of healthcare facilities and health departments,” the CDC noted.

Preventing infections: The pandemic undermined efforts in healthcare infection prevention and control, amplifying antimicrobial resistant infections.

Antimicrobial use: Antibiotics were commonly prescribed to patients with COVID-19. Antibiotics are appropriate to treat serious bacterial infections and life-threatening conditions, such sepsis and pneumonia, but they are not effective against viruses.

Vaccines and therapeutics: Prevention products are needed more than new antimicrobials, including novel decolonizing agents to stop the spread by people who may not know they are carriers.

REFERENCE

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19: U.S. Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance, Special Report 2022. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/pdf/covid19-impact-report-508.pdf