Antibiotic Resistance bad for population, economy, and health care

Antibiotic-resistant infections are a substantial health and economic burden to the U.S. health care system, as well as to patients and their families.1 They commonly occur in hospitals, due to the clustering of highly vulnerable patients, extensive use of invasive procedures, and high rates of antibiotic use in this setting.1 Nearly two million Americans per year develop HAIs, resulting in 99,000 deaths, most due to antibacterial-resistant pathogens.1 In 2006, two common HAIs (sepsis and pneumonia) were found to be responsible for the deaths of nearly 50,000 Americans and cost the U.S. health care system more than $8 billion.1 Antibiotic-resistant infections add considerable costs to the nation’s already overburdened health care system. When first-line and then second-line antibiotic treatment options are limited or unavailable, health care professionals may be forced to use antibiotics that are more toxic to the patient and frequently more expensive.5,11 Even when effective treatments exist, data show that in most cases patients with resistant infections require significantly longer hospital stays, more doctors visits, and lengthier recuperations and experience a higher incidence of long-term disability.5 The duration of hospital stays for patients with antibiotic-resistant infections was found to be prolonged by 6.4 to 12.7 days, collectively adding an extra eight million hospital days.1 Estimates regarding the medical cost per patient with an antibiotic-resistant infection range from $18,588 to $29,069.1,14 The total economic burden placed on the U.S. economy by antibiotic-resistant infections has been estimated to be as high as $20 billion in health care costs and $35 billion a year in lost productivity.1 Antibiotic-resistant infections also burden families and communities due to lost wages and health care costs.