What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?

Jon Stokes, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University, says AMR is a phenomenon through which antimicrobial medications — like antibiotics — stop working as intended.

Indeed, microbes like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites can evolve over time to resist the medications that have long treated the infections that they cause.

Stokes calls the phenomenon “an under-discussed pandemic,” noting that, in 2019 alone, 1.3 million people died from drug-resistant infections. What’s worse, he says, is the number of AMR-related deaths is expected to balloon to 10 million per year by 2050 if drug resistance is left unchecked.

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