CDC Says Drug-Resistant Germs Cause 9.7 Million US Infections and 50,800 Deaths a Year

Drug-resistant germs cause an estimated 9.7 million infections and 50,800 deaths in the United States each year, according to the 2026 Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published on Tuesday, October 27. It is the agency's first full threat list update since 2019 and is based on 2023 data.

The total covers 19 drug-resistant bacterial and fungal pathogens. More than 9.3 million infections and more than 39,000 deaths come from the resistant germs themselves. Adding Clostridioides difficile, known as C. diff, brings the toll to 9.7 million and 50,800. The agency includes C. diff because antibiotic use and germ spread in care settings drive both problems, although C. diff infections are not usually drug-resistant themselves.

The four urgent threats

Four pathogens sit in the urgent tier, the highest level, needing urgent and aggressive action. They are Candida auris, a fungus that spreads in hospitals and nursing homes; carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter; carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales; and drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium that causes gonorrhea.

Candida auris is spreading fastest, with 4,523 US cases in 2023, a tenfold increase since 2019, and some strains resist nearly every antifungal available. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales accounted for 14,878 cases in 2023 and an estimated 1,252 deaths, the report figures cited by Healio show.

Where the harm is concentrated

Most deaths happen in hospitals and other care settings. Infections linked to health care accounted for more than 42,000 deaths and cost nearly $12 billion in 2023, Dawn M. Sievert, senior science advisor for the CDC's Antimicrobial Resistance Coordination and Strategy Unit, told Healio.

The CDC notes that modern treatments depend on working antibiotics, including joint replacements, organ transplants and cancer care. When first-line drugs fail, doctors turn to second and third line treatments that can carry heavier side effects, or in some cases have no treatment option left.

One threat moved down, others moved up

Not every trend ran the wrong way. C. diff moved from urgent to serious. Its rates fell 21 percent from 2018 to 2020 and stayed stable in health care settings from 2020 to 2023. Sievert said that progress shows a response built on prevention, stewardship and better testing can work.

Other germs moved onto the lists. Drug-resistant Neisseria meningitidis was added as a serious threat. Three more, drug-resistant dermatophytes, drug-resistant Haemophilus influenzae and nontuberculous mycobacteria, joined a watch list. In all, the report ranks 19 threats as urgent, serious or concerning, and tracks six more on the watch list.

Why the numbers are not a straight comparison

The 2019 report, based on 2013 data, estimated 2.8 million infections and 35,000 deaths a year. The CDC is direct that the new figures should not be compared straight against those older ones. The agency updated its data sources and methods and used seven factors to rank each threat, including clinical and economic impact, current case counts, projected change over five years and whether effective treatments exist. Some germs once counted only in hospitals, or only in invasive form, are now counted more widely.

"Antimicrobial resistance threatens modern medicine and puts millions of Americans at risk every year," CDC Director Erica Schwartz said in a statement. "This data shows both the progress we've made and the significant work that remains."

Wendy S. Armstrong, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the numbers alarming and urged Congress to pass the PASTEUR Act, a bipartisan bill to support new antimicrobial drugs and stewardship programs.