A population-based study led by the University of Turku, Finland, investigated factors associated with the prevalence of antibiotic resistance. In addition to antibiotic use, diet, gender, living environment, income level and certain gut bacteria were associated with a higher burden of resistance. A higher resistance burden was associated with a 40% higher risk of all-cause mortality during the follow-up.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause more than one million deaths per year worldwide, and the number is rising fast.

A recent study shows that an increase in relative mortality risk can be predicted by high resistance burden as well as by elevated blood pressure or type 2 diabetes. The number of antibiotic resistance genes found in gut bacteria predicted the risk of sepsis or death during a long follow-up period of almost two decades.