healthcare-associated infections (hai) program

Antimicrobial Resistance

More than 2.8 million illnesses and 35,000 deaths are attributed to infections with antimicrobial-resistant organisms in the United States each year. Among Californians, this translates to roughly 360,000 illnesses and nearly 4,500 deaths.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Antibiotic Resistance (AR) Threats in the United States, 2019 Report (PDF) includes carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) and Acinetobacter, Candida auris (C. auris), Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile), and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa as urgent and serious threats.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB), 2020-2025 (PDF) outlines a coordinated plan to respond to these AR threats.

1. Preventing Emergence

HAI Honor Roll Medals logo Core actions to prevent resistance include improving antimicrobial prescribing through stewardship, reducing infections, and preventing transmission of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Honor Roll

2. Detection

CDPH connects clinicians, infection preventionists, laboratorians, and public health practitioners to testing resources for the rapid detection of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.

California Antimicrobial Resistance Lab-Epi Alliance