Antimicrobial resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to human health and patient safety. Hundreds of people in Australia die each year as a result of AMR.
About antimicrobial resistance
Antimicrobials is the term used to refer to all antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitic agents. They are each important medicines that treat and prevent particular infections caused by microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.
AMR is the failure of an antimicrobial to effectively treat or prevent an infection that it was previously able to. This means that a microorganism has developed resistance to an antimicrobial. AMR affects all antimicrobials, not just antibiotics.
A microorganism can be resistant to many antimicrobials. This is called multi-drug resistance. This is a risk to patient safety as it reduces the range of antimicrobials available to successfully treat infections.
AMR can impact people at all ages and also poses a threat to veterinary, agriculture and environmental industries. This makes AMR one of the most urgent public health issues globally.
What causes antimicrobial resistance?
AMR occurs naturally when microorganisms change to protect themselves from being injured or killed by antimicrobials. The more antimicrobials are used, the more likely it is AMR will develop. Increasing AMR is also driven by the spread of microorganisms and their resistance mechanisms.
Many infections get better without antimicrobials. Taking an antimicrobial inappropriately, that is when it is not needed or for longer than you should, can cause microorganisms to develop resistance.
Antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms can spread from person-to-person, so you can be affected by AMR even without taking antimicrobials. If these resistant microorganisms later cause infections that need to be treated, the antimicrobial will be ineffective.
To learn more, see Information for consumers on antimicrobial resistance for a video and fact sheets.