Americans Need Leadership to Fight Superbugs and Health Inequities

Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD

Most doctors are well aware of the looming crisis posed by "superbugs," the bacteria and fungi that are growing increasingly resistant to even our strongest antimicrobials. But physicians might not realize that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) isn't just a public health issue — it's an equity issue too. Luckily, there's a bill that is currently before Congress that could fight these superbugs — and help address AMR-related health inequities in the process.

Consider methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the leading cause of superbug deaths today — accounting for more than 100,000 deaths in 2019. Black individuals in the United States are 1.6 times more likely to become infected by MRSA than are White individuals.

Black individuals are also more likely to contract hospital-acquired infections and twice as likely to die from complications driven by antibiotic resistance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified at least a dozen examples of bacteria that notably show disparities in the communities that they affect most.

It's no surprise that there are disparities in health outcomes related to resistant infections because the risks for AMR are also closely tied to social determinants of health. Minority groups are more likely to work in industries like healthcare or agriculture, where they are at greater risk of being exposed to resistant bacteria.