The World Health Organization said global antibiotic use could drop by 22% annually if vaccines against 23 specific pathogens were widely developed, The Washington Post reported Oct. 26.
A recent WHO report underscores the "underrecognized" potential of vaccines to reduce antimicrobial resistance, a growing health crisis in which pathogens stop responding to antibiotics, resulting in nearly 5 million deaths worldwide in 2019.
The report evaluated current and upcoming vaccines, with vaccines in development — such as those for tuberculosis and Klebsiella pneumoniae — having the potential to prevent more than 500,000 antimicrobial resistance-related deaths.
The report also said expanding access to existing vaccines against pneumonia, typhoid and Haemopholis influenzae type B could curb antimicrobial resistance significantly.