The number of urinary tract infections resistant to multiple drugs in Kenya has surged from 20% to nearly 90% in just a decade.
Antibiotic resistance is a growing global crisis, but the speed of the collapse in some regions is staggering. A 10-year surveillance study revealed a four-fold increase in multidrug-resistant UTIs among the local population. This means that common antibiotics that worked a few years ago are now almost entirely useless for the vast majority of patients. This trend is driven by high, unregulated antibiotic use that has allowed bacteria to evolve at an alarming pace. If this trajectory continues, even simple infections could soon become untreatable and potentially deadly.
Ten-year Multicenter Surveillance of Urinary Tract Infections in Kenya Reveals High Antibiotic Use With a Four-Fold Rise in Multidrug Resistance
SSRN · 6724460
Background: In low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), urinary tract infections (UTIs) are largely managed empirically, but their spatial and temporal dynamics, etiology, and associated antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns are poorly defined. Data from a 10-year multi-center surveillance of UTIs in Kenya were analyzed to address these gaps. Methods: Between 2015 and 2025, 1,974 patients with suspected UTIs in eleven hospitals were enrolled. Specimens and patient metadata were collected. Stan