A new global study has revealed that more than three million children died in 2022 from infections linked to antibiotic resistance—an alarming figure that experts say demands urgent international action.
The deaths were most concentrated in low-income regions, with Africa and South East Asia carrying the heaviest burden, according to researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia and the Clinton Health Access Initiative.
“These are preventable deaths,” said Professor Herb Harwell, co-lead of the study. “We estimate that three million children worldwide died due to antimicrobial resistance. That’s more than ten times what we thought just a few years ago.”
The findings come ahead of Harwell’s presentation at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Vienna later this month. He stressed that the data should be a wake-up call: “AMR affects everyone, but the impact on children—especially in the poorest parts of the world—is staggering.”
Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, occurs when bacteria evolve to resist the antibiotics meant to kill them. It’s widely seen as one of the greatest threats to public health, potentially rendering once-treatable infections deadly.
The study, which analysed data from the World Health Organization and the World Bank, paints a stark picture of how drug-resistant infections are reversing decades of gains in child health.
Antibiotics are commonly prescribed to treat bacterial infections such as pneumonia, sepsis, and skin conditions. They are also used prophylactically during surgeries and chemotherapy. But overuse and misuse have led to a rise in bacteria that no longer respond to these treatments.
“Antibiotics have become too widely available, too carelessly used,” said Dr Lindsey Edwards, a microbiologist at King’s College London who was not involved in the study. “And we are paying the price—children most of all.”
The report showed a dramatic increase in the use of “watch” and “reserve” antibiotics—classes of drugs meant to be used only in serious or last-resort cases. Between 2019 and 2021, the use of these drugs rose by 160% in South East Asia and 126% in Africa. Use of reserve antibiotics increased by 45% in South East Asia and a staggering 125% in Africa.
“This trend is deeply worrying,” said Dr Yanhong Jessika Hu, co-author of the study. “If these last-line drugs stop working, we’ll have nothing left to treat many serious infections.”
The World Health Organization has warned for years that AMR could undermine modern medicine. But this new study adds clarity to how deeply it is affecting children—especially in regions already grappling with poor sanitation, low immunisation coverage, and limited access to health care.
“AMR isn’t just a hospital issue,” said Prof Harwell. “It’s in our food systems, in the water, in the soil. It’s a systemic failure.”
So, what can be done?
There are no easy fixes, experts admit. But there are immediate steps that can help slow the spread. These include better regulation of antibiotic use, investments in clean water and sanitation, stronger vaccination campaigns, and renewed global funding for the development of new antibiotics.
“There’s no silver bullet,” said Dr Edwards. “But there are proven solutions that need political will and international coordination.”
The researchers hope their findings will galvanise global health leaders into action, before more lives—particularly young ones—are lost to an entirely preventable threat.
“Let’s not wait for this to spiral further,” said Harwell. “The world must respond now.”
