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India Study Finds Resistant Infections Deadlier and More Expensive
Scientists studied serious infections in hospitals across India.
They looked at four types of bacteria that can cause illness in places such as the lungs, urinary tract and bloodstream.
Some of these bacteria could no longer be killed by important antibiotics called carbapenems.
Patients with these resistant infections died more often than patients with infections that the medicines could still treat.
Infections in the bloodstream were especially dangerous.
Treating resistant infections also cost more, although the study counted only antibiotic costs.
Many of the infections were linked to healthcare settings, medical devices or surgery.
The researchers say hospitals should prevent infections, find resistance quickly and use antibiotics carefully.
They also caution that the study mainly involved referred and critically ill patients, so its results do not represent every hospital or community in India.
A study across 20 Indian tertiary-care hospitals analysed 159,336 hospitalised patients between April 2022 and April 2025.
Among 26,213 confirmed Gram-negative infections, 16,025, or 61.1%, were resistant to carbapenem antibiotics.
Carbapenem-resistant infections had higher mortality than susceptible infections across E. coli, K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa.
Bloodstream infections were especially deadly, with mortality among resistant cases ranging from 39.3% for E. coli to 50.8% for A. baumannii.
Antibiotic costs for resistant infections were 1.1 to two times higher, while researchers urged stronger prevention, diagnostics and stewardship.
- Who
- Researchers in the Indian Council of Medical Research’s antimicrobial-resistance surveillance network studied hospitalised patients with infections caused by four Gram-negative bacteria.
- What
- The study compared mortality and antibiotic-treatment costs for carbapenem-resistant and carbapenem-susceptible infections.
- Where
- The research took place across 20 tertiary-care hospitals in India.
- When
- Data were collected between April 2022 and April 2025.
- Why
- The researchers sought to measure how carbapenem resistance affects patient survival and treatment costs and to identify priorities for controlling antimicrobial resistance.
What the findings suggest
What the findings do not prove
Resistance and death
What the findings suggest
Carbapenem resistance was consistently associated with higher mortality across all four bacteria, indicating a major clinical threat.
What the findings do not prove
The study could not establish resistance as the sole independent cause of death because severity, treatment timing, source control and other patient factors also affect outcomes.
Ceftazidime-avibactam
What the findings suggest
The newer antibiotic was associated with better outcomes in some resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae infections, including bloodstream infections.
What the findings do not prove
Because the study was observational and lacked complete information about severity and resistance mechanisms, it does not prove that the drug is universally superior.
Antibiotic use versus prevention
What the findings suggest
Rapid diagnostics and prompt appropriate antibiotics are needed when resistant bloodstream infections are suspected or confirmed.
What the findings do not prove
Researchers say stronger antibiotics alone cannot solve the problem; infection prevention, device management, environmental cleaning and stewardship are equally necessary.
Key facts
- Patients analysed
- 159,336 hospitalised patients
- Confirmed Gram-negative infections
- 26,213
- Carbapenem-resistant infections
- 16,025, or 61.1% of confirmed infections
- Study hospitals
- 20 tertiary-care hospitals
- Study period
- April 2022 to April 2025
- Resistant bloodstream-infection mortality
- 39.3% for E. coli to 50.8% for A. baumannii
- Cost comparison
- Antibiotic treatment costs were approximately 1.1 to two times higher for resistant infections
- Cost limitation
- Costs covered antibiotics under JanAushadhi rates, excluding beds, diagnostics, fees and supportive care
Quotes
Dr Kamini Walia
Study co-author and senior scientist at the ICMR Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases in New Delhi
“Carbapenem resistance should be regarded as a major threat to patient survival, particularly in severe and bloodstream infections.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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