Kerala’s KARS‑Net released its 2025 antibiogram, revealing that AMR is now the norm in the state’s hospitals and even in community infections.
Key Developments (2025)
- Data collected from 55 labs in 14 districts, covering 59 institutions.
- 65,849 unique patient isolates of nine priority pathogens were analysed.
- Gram‑negative bacteria showed high rates of ESBL production and carbapenem resistance.
- Gram‑positive pathogens displayed rising MRSA and low but present vancomycin resistance.
- Colistin, a last‑resort drug, remains effective overall (0.1% resistance) but resistance is emerging.
Important Facts
E. coli accounted for 41.2% of isolates; 73% of blood isolates were ESBL‑positive and 8% were carbapenem‑resistant. Klebsiella spp. (25.8% of isolates) showed 68% ESBL and 43% carbapenem resistance, with 62% resistant to ciprofloxacin.
Acinetobacter (ICU pathogen) had 52% carbapenem resistance; Pseudomonas spp. showed 20% resistance to meropenem.
Among Gram‑positives, Staphylococcus aureus had 33% MRSA; Enterococcus spp. displayed 4% vancomycin resistance (VRE) and 1% linezolid resistance.
Community‑acquired Salmonella and Shigella remained lowly resistant to ampicillin (7‑8%) but showed very high ciprofloxacin resistance (55‑93%).
Exam Relevance
The report illustrates how a state‑level surveillance system can feed data into the NCDC and the WHO’s GLASS. Understanding AMR trends is vital for GS1 (public health), GS3 (health economics), and GS4 (ethics of antibiotic use). The use of WHONET demonstrates the role of technology in health governance.
Way Forward
- Strengthen antimicrobial stewardship in hospitals to curb inappropriate prescribing.
- Launch community‑level awareness campaigns on antibiotic misuse and hygiene.
- Expand surveillance to include private clinics and rural health centres.
- Promote research on new antibiotics and alternative therapies.
- Integrate AMR data into policy‑making for resource allocation and health‑system planning.
Kerala’s experience can serve as a model for other Indian states aiming to combat the growing threat of drug‑resistant infections.