Last line of defence crumbling: WHO report on global antimicrobial resistance

Drug resistance to carbapenem antibiotics, which are used as a last-resort for treating hospital acquired bacterial infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae, such as pneumonia, bloodstream infections and infections in newborns, has spread to all regions of the world. This is the key finding by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its first ever report on antimicrobial resistance globally.

The WHO also found that in some countries, because of the growing problem of drug resistance, carbapenem antibiotics would not...