WHO updates list of drug-resistant bacteria

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its updated Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) 2024, featuring 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grouped into critical, high and medium categories for prioritization. The list provides guidance on the development of new and necessary treatments to stop the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making people sicker and increasing the risk of disease spread, illness and deaths. AMR is driven in large part by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials. The updated BPPL incorporates new evidence and expert insights to guide research and development (R&D) for new antibiotics and promote international coordination to foster innovation.

“Antimicrobial resistance jeopardizes our ability to effectively treat high burden infections, such as tuberculosis, leading to severe illness and increased mortality rates," said Dr Jérôme Salomon, WHO's Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage, Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases.

The WHO BPPL 2024 includes the following bacteria:

Critical priority:

Acinetobacter baumannii, carbapenem-resistant;
Enterobacterales, third-generation cephalosporin-resistant; and
Enterobacterales, carbapenem-resistant;
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, rifampicin-resistant (included after an independent analysis with parallel tailored criteria, and subsequent application of an adapted multi-criteria decision analysis matrix).

High priority:

Salmonella Typhi, fluoroquinolone-resistant
Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant
Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant
Non-typhoidal Salmonella, fluoroquinolone-resistant
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, third-generation cephalosporin- and/or fluoroquinolone-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant