Can Vaccines Slash Global Antibiotic Use? WHO Says Yes

Expanding vaccine use has the potential to reduce the administration of up to 2.5 billion doses of antimicrobials per year, making a significant contribution to the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the greatest public health challenges worldwide.

This information is included in a new World Health Organization (WHO) report on the subject, which estimated the potential impact of increases in immunization rates. The document emphasized that the role of vaccines in reducing AMR has not been fully recognized, even though vaccines can “train” the immune system to better defend against various pathogens before an infection begins or worsens.

“Vaccinated people will have fewer infections and thus will also be protected against potential complications from secondary infections that may trigger the use of antimicrobials or require admission to hospital,” the report stated.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, highlighted the importance of implementing preventive strategies.

“Tackling AMR starts with infection prevention, and vaccines are among the most powerful tools for this,” he stated. “Prevention is better than cure, so increasing access to available vaccines and developing new immunizations for critical diseases, like tuberculosis, is essential to save lives and reverse the current trend,” he added.

Researchers calculated the total impact across three main categories: Vaccines already in existence, those in the final stages of development, and hypothetical vaccines.

A total of 44 vaccines targeting 24 pathogens were evaluated, including 19 against bacteria, 4 against viruses, and 1 against a parasite. As infections can cause different syndromes and can affect various age groups, in many cases, multiple vaccines were often assessed for the same pathogen to determine their potential impact on AMR.

The problem of AMR has been primarily driven by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. AMR is estimated to be linked to approximately 5 million deaths annually. According to the report, increasing vaccine use could prevent many of these deaths, as well as bring about significant cost savings in treatment and reduce financial losses due to decreased patient productivity.

The new report expanded on a previous WHO study published in 2023 in BMJ Global Health, which indicated the benefits of implementing vaccines.

The study estimated that the use of existing vaccines against pneumococcal Haemophilus influenzae type B and Salmonella typhi could prevent up to 106,000 AMR-related deaths annually.

Each year, another 543,000 deaths linked to AMR could be avoided with the development and global deployment of new vaccines against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Currently, new vaccines targeting tuberculosis-causing pathogens are already in clinical trial phases, and one against K pneumoniae is in the early stages of development.

Vaccines in the advanced stages of clinical development could prevent up to 135,000 deaths annually and 5 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Additionally, they could reduce hospital costs by $1.2 billion and productivity losses by $2.2 billion, all associated with AMR.

For vaccines in the early stages of development, the potential impacts are also significant. They could prevent up to 408,000 deaths annually and 23 million DALYs, saving $30 billion in hospital costs and $17.7 billion in productivity losses.

The new report also provided a series of recommendations, such as incorporating vaccines into global and regional strategies to combat AMR, as well as systematically reviewing the results.

The document suggested that the introduction of existing vaccines should be accelerated, including expanding vaccination coverage. “All existing pediatric vaccines should reach the immunization targets of IA2030 [Immunization Agenda 2030], and the use of vaccines in older age groups should be considered.”

The severe health and economic impacts of AMR are receiving increasing attention. During the recent United Nations General Assembly held at the end of September, a high-level meeting on the issue concluded with the publication of a political declaration.

In the document, world leaders committed to a set of actions and goals to address the problem, outlining objectives for increasing research funding for new drugs and vaccines, as well as joint efforts to strengthen public health systems.

One of the key highlights presented was the goal of securing $100 million by 2030 to ensure that at least 60% of member countries can finance their AMR combat plans.

This story was translated from Medscape’s Portuguese edition using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.