You probably remember the last time a doctor sent you home with a short course of antibiotics. A urinary infection, maybe, or a bad chest. The pill was meant to settle the problem in a few days.
That reliable fix is cracking. According to the World Health Organization, one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections worldwide no longer respond to the antibiotics doctors normally reach for first.
The number comes from the agency's 2025 global surveillance report, drawn from more than 23 million infections reported by 104 countries. Resistance rose in more than 40 percent of pathogen-antibiotic combinations tracked between 2018 and 2023.
"Antimicrobial resistance is outpacing advances in modern medicine, threatening the health of families worldwide," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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The infections getting harder to treat
The hardest-hit group is the one most people meet at some point. Urinary tract infections top the list, followed by bloodstream infections, gastrointestinal infections and gonorrhea.
Two bacteria are doing most of the damage. More than 40 percent of E. coli samples worldwide now resist third-generation cephalosporins, a common first-line treatment for serious infections.
For Klebsiella pneumoniae, another frequent cause of pneumonia and bloodstream infections, that figure rises above 55 percent. In parts of Africa, it passes 70 percent.
Resistance is also uneven by region. In South-East Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, about one in three infections no longer responds to standard treatment. Northern Europe, where prescribing is tighter, still sits in single digits.
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What the picture looks like in the United States
In the US, the figures come from a different source but tell the same story. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that drug-resistant bacteria and fungi cause more than 9.3 million infections and over 39,000 deaths each year.
That figure comes from the CDC's 2026 Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report. It tracks 19 pathogens across three alert levels, from urgent to concerning.
Looking further out, a 2024 projection in The Lancet estimated bacterial resistance could directly cause 39 million deaths worldwide between 2025 and 2050. People over 70 would be hit hardest.
What you can actually do
Doctors are being asked to prescribe more carefully. Patients have a part too, and the habits WHO points to are not complicated.
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Finish the full course a doctor prescribes, even when you feel better after two or three days. Do not ask for antibiotics for a cold, the flu or another viral infection, because antibiotics do not touch viruses.
Do not share leftover pills with family, and do not save them for later. Keep routine vaccinations up to date. WHO estimates that better vaccine use alone could cut global antibiotic use by about 2.5 billion doses a year.
If an infection is not clearing, ask your doctor whether a urine or swab test can show which antibiotic will still work. For infections where no standard pill works at all, the WHO has released its first global treatment guide for doctors.
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This article is made and published by Mie Hermansen, who may have used AI in the preparation.