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Malaria and HIV/AIDS are major causes of annual deaths around the world. So it might be surprising to learn that more people died from antibiotic resistant bacterial infections during 2019.

That's the conclusion from research which has just been published in the medical journal The Lancet. The analysis from more than 200 countries shows during that year at least 1.2 million people died from antibiotic resistant infections, making it a leading cause of death worldwide.

The study's co-author Professor Chris Murray - Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington - told Newsday he was surprised deaths related from drug resistant infections was truly a global phenomenon.

"Much to our surprise the number of deaths related to antibiotic resistance is actually greater in low income countries particularly in sub-Saharan Africa than, for example, in high income countries - and that was counter to our expectations."

"What's happening is the proportion or fraction of bacterial infections that are resistant is lower in Africa but there are so many more infections... that the overall burden of antimicrobial resistance turns out to be greater in the lower and middle income world than the high income world."

(Pic: 3D illustration: Biofilm of antibiotic resistant bacteria; Credit: Getty Images)

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