Antimicrobial resistance: a concise update

Charlotte S Ho; Carlos T H Wong; Thet Tun Aung; Rajamani Lakshminarayanan; Jodhbir S Mehta; Saaeha Rauz; Alan McNally; Balint Kintses; Sharon J Peacock; Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez; Robert E W Hancock; Darren S J Ting

doi:10.1016/j.lanmic.2024.07.010

Antimicrobial resistance: a concise update

Lancet Microbe. 2025 Jan;6(1):100947. doi: 10.1016/j.lanmic.2024.07.010. Epub 2024 Sep 18.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Western Eye Hospital, London, UK.
² Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK.
³ Ocular Infections and Anti-Microbials Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore; Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
⁴ Ocular Infections and Anti-Microbials Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore; Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
⁵ Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore.
⁶ Academic Unit of Ophthalmology, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK; Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, Birmingham, UK.
⁷ Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁸ Synthetic and System Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, National Laboratory of Biotechnology, Szeged, Hungary; HCEMM-BRC Translational Microbiology Research Group, Szeged, Hungary.
⁹ Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁰ Machine Biology Group, Department of Psychiatry and Department of Microbiology, Institute for Biomedical Informatics, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Bioengineering and Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Chemistry, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address: cfuente@upenn.edu.
¹¹ Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address: bob@hancocklab.com.
¹² Ocular Infections and Anti-Microbials Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore; Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Academic Unit of Ophthalmology, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK; Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, Birmingham, UK; Academic Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. Electronic address: d.s.j.ting@bham.ac.uk.

PMID: 39305919
DOI: 10.1016/j.lanmic.2024.07.010

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to global public health, with approximately 5 million deaths associated with bacterial AMR in 2019. Tackling AMR requires a multifaceted and cohesive approach that ranges from increased understanding of mechanisms and drivers at the individual and population levels, AMR surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, improved infection prevention and control measures, and strengthened global policies and funding to development of novel antimicrobial therapeutic strategies. In this rapidly advancing field, this Review provides a concise update on AMR, encompassing epidemiology, evolution, underlying mechanisms (primarily those related to last-line or newer generation of antibiotics), infection prevention and control measures, access to antibiotics, antimicrobial stewardship, AMR surveillance, and emerging non-antibiotic therapeutic approaches. The Review also discusses the potential roles of artificial intelligence in addressing AMR, including antimicrobial susceptibility testing, AMR surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, diagnosis, and antimicrobial drug discovery and development. This Review highlights the urgent need for addressing the global effects of AMR and for rapid advancement of relevant technology in this dynamic field.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents* / pharmacology
Anti-Bacterial Agents* / therapeutic use
Antimicrobial Stewardship
Bacteria* / drug effects
Bacterial Infections* / diagnosis
Bacterial Infections* / drug therapy
Bacterial Infections* / epidemiology
Bacterial Infections* / microbiology
Drug Discovery
Drug Resistance, Bacterial*
Global Health
Humans
Microbial Sensitivity Tests

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents