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Antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance: why some microbes are harder to treat, how resistance spreads in hospitals, farms and the environment, and the plans and new drugs against it. Prelims has asked why multi drug resistance occurs in microbial pathogens in India.

UPSC has asked

Prelims 2019: reasons for multi-drug resistance in microbial pathogens in India

All 2 subjects shown; the 1 that changed from 1 to 15 September 2026 are marked.Show only these

Gram-negative bacteria

Prelims and Mains

Bacteria sort into two groups by a nineteenth century staining test, and that split still decides which antibiotics can reach them. Gram-negative bacteria are the harder half, and the reason is structural rather than anything to do with how the drugs have been used.

The Gram stain, devised by Hans Christian Gram in the 1880s, sorts bacteria by whether their cell wall holds crystal violet.
Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are Gram-negative, and cause many hospital infections.
Their outer membrane, which Gram-positive bacteria lack, keeps many antibiotics out.
Once such a strain resists carbapenems, few medicines remain.

What changed

2 Sep 2026
The Indian Express, 2 Sep 2026: Expert Explains | Why India's drug-resistance problem is bigger than antibiotic overuse (opens in a new tab)
2 Sep 2026
- ICMR reported on 2 September 2026 that over 61 per cent of the Gram-negative infections studied in tertiary care hospitals were carbapenem resistant.
- The relative risk of death against susceptible strains ran 1.16 to 1.43, and antibiotic cost 1.1 to 2 times that of a susceptible infection.
- Over 85 per cent of bloodstream infections were healthcare associated.
- The priorities named were infection prevention and control, integrated surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship and newer antibiotics.
The Indian Express, 2 Sep 2026: Expert Explains | Why India's drug-resistance problem is bigger than antibiotic overuse (opens in a new tab)

Antibiotic use in India: the AWaRe classification

Prelims and Mains

The World Health Organization sorts antibiotics into Access (first line), Watch (broader spectrum, for specific situations) and Reserve (last resort).

What changed

27 Jul 2026New subject
- A global study puts India's antibiotic use at about 18.3 defined daily doses per thousand people a day, above the estimated optimal range of 9.9 to 14.7.
- Use of Watch antibiotics is about 9.3 doses against a recommended 6, while Access antibiotics stand at only about 4.5.
The Indian Express, 27 Jul 2026: India uses too many broad-spectrum antibiotics and too few first-line ones, a global study finds (opens in a new tab)