—UPDATE
U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (USAAW) is observed each year from November 18-24. The purpose of the observance is to raise awareness of the importance of appropriate antibiotic and antifungal use, and the threat antimicrobial resistance poses to people, animals, plants and their shared environment.Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs, like bacteria and fungi, develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. That means the germs are not killed and continue to grow. Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent global public health threat that is estimated to cause more than 1.27 million deaths around the world and nearly 35,000 deaths in the United States each year. When Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) is added to the annual U.S. death toll for all antimicrobial resistance threats, the number jumps to 48,000 deaths. Antimicrobial resistance can affect anyone, anywhere, and at any stage of life. Antimicrobial-resistant germs can spread rapidly across the globe in and between healthcare facilities, as well as in the community, environment, and our food supply.
