Antibiotic Resistance in Nursing Homes: A Reflection of the Global Crisis

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global crisis that has garnered significant attention from health care experts, clinicians, microbiologists, and policymakers. Some predictions suggest that AMR could result in up to 10 million deaths per year by 2050, with a cumulative impact on the global economy amounting to $100 trillion. In the United States alone, more than 2 million infections annually are caused by bacteria resistant to at least first-line antibiotic treatments, contributing to $20 billion in excess health care costs each year (BMJ 2013:346:f1493).