The Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance Is Confounded by a Global Increase in Antibiotic Usage.

Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to global health. Despite numerous initiatives designed to curb excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics, a recent report ( Klein et al. ( 2018 ) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. , 115 , E3463 ) finds that there was a substantial increase in global antibiotic consumption by humans from 2000 to 2015 and predicts a further 200% increase by 2030. Alarmingly, much of this growth is occurring in "last-resort" antibiotics. The study excludes the extensive use of antibiotics in agriculture and aquaculture. This Viewpoint examines the report's findings and discusses them in the context of other recent developments in antimicrobial resistance.