The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a health advisory warning that treatment resistant bacteria, Shigella, spreading. This kind of bacteria is highly contagious and the proportion of infections from drug-resistant strains of Shigella rose from zero in 2015 to 5% last year. The US sees about 3 million antimicrobial-resistant infections from Shigella and other bacteria every year. More than 35,000 of these patients die. A UN report concluded that globally 5 million deaths were due to antimicrobial resistance in 2019. The analysts project that 10 treatment resistant bacteria will kill 10 million people per year by mid-century, if major progress is not made in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. Infection control experts assert that we must reign in the excessive and unnecessary use of antibiotics. Despite the fact that antibiotics do not work against viruses, these drugs are taken for viral infections fairly commonly in the US. The CDC found that about half of antibiotics prescribed in non-hospital settings were inappropriate. Shigellosis has historically impacted mainly young children, but the illness has become more common in adults. People usually become infected through person-to-person contact and contaminated food and water.
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