CDC, Study Warn of Rising Drug-Resistant Infections

A University of Leicester–led analysis found antimicrobial resistance is common in hospitals—about 36.5% of hospital-acquired infections involve drug‑resistant bacteria—and that resistant infections carry a 58% higher adjusted risk of death, with the largest impacts for bloodstream infections. In the United States, a CDC report shows overall carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) cases rose roughly 69% between 2019 and 2023 while NDM-producing CRE (NDM-CRE) infections jumped more than 460% (from 0.25 to 1.35 per 100,000), with 4,341 carbapenem-resistant infections reported across 29 states in 2023 and 1,831 of those identified as NDM. NDM (New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase) makes bacteria resistant to many antibiotics, leaving only two effective drugs that are costly and require IV administration, and many clinical labs lack the specialized testing needed to detect these strains quickly. Public-health experts say the rise—driven in part by travel, medical tourism and gaps in infection control—poses a grave danger to hospitalized and long-term care patients and could reverse progress against resistant infections. Officials are urging expanded testing capacity, stronger infection‑prevention measures, coordinated surveillance and better access to targeted therapies to limit spread and reduce deaths.