Global incidence in hospital-associated infections resistant to antibiotics: An analysis of point prevalence surveys from 99 countries

Hospital-associated infections (HAIs) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. Many HAIs are caused by drug-resistant bacterial pathogens, but there are major gaps in our understanding of the number of hospital-associated drug-resistant infections (HARIs) worldwide. As such, we estimated trends in prevalence of HARIs caused by high priority pathogens (Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter spp., and Pseudomonas spp.) in 195 countries.

In this study, we observe, in the absence of systematic surveillance systems for HARIs, a baseline overview of their rates. Our yearly estimates highlight the global threat of HARIs and may help define strategies to tackle resistance in hospital settings.