Antimicrobial Resistance in England 2017 to 2021 (ESPAUR Report 2021–22)

The English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) antimicrobial resistance (AMR) chapter reports on bacterial, viral, and fungal AMR trends between 2017 and 2021 in England. A 10.8% increase in patient episodes of bacteraemia or fungaemia was observed, and the estimated burden of resistance decreased by 4.2%. Individuals with an antimicrobial-resistant strain (resistant to ≥1 key AMR burden-defined antibiotics) had a higher crude case fatality rate (18.1%) compared to those with a susceptible strain (16.3%). The effect of deprivation on carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPO) incidence, and the impact of the AMR burden across ethnic groups, have been described for the first time. Understanding the impact of ethnicity, deprivation, regional divergence, and potential confounders remains a crucial avenue of enquiry to target appropriate AMR interventions. These findings were presented at the ESPAUR Report webinar on 23 November 2022.