The State Antibiogram or Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Surveillance Report 2025 was released by Health Minister Veena George. Data shows that AMR is declining slightly.
The 2025 annual report shows AMR data from January 1 to December 31, 2024, collected from 47 surveillance laboratories from 13 districts that are part of the Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (KARS-NET). Data from 55,640 unique patient isolates were analyzed and included in the report.
KARS-NET collects antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) data from 59 laboratories and approximately 185 beams in 14 districts and is the largest nationwide AMR surveillance network in the country.
“Over the past two years, we have reduced over-the-counter antibiotic sales by 20-30%. But this reduction was a result of strict enforcement, not due to increased awareness of AMR. Our goal is to improve public antibiotic literacy so that people understand the dangers of antibiotic misuse and voluntarily stop their misuse,” says R. Aravialind R. Aravialind. (KARSAP).
Effective surveillance of antimicrobial resistance is only possible through systematic data collection and analysis from which resistance patterns and trends can be developed. Resistance patterns help clinicians make informed treatment decisions and help health authorities design targeted interventions.
KARS-Net currently includes AMR surveillance for nine key priority pathogens responsible for high rates of antibiotic resistance in bacteria that commonly cause human infections.
The nine priority pathogens monitored by KARS-NET are Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus species, Klebsiella species, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter species, Pseudomonas species, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and Paratyphi, Shigella species and Vibrio cholerae
E. coli was the most common priority pathogen isolated from OPDs (47%), IPDs (36%), and ICUs (31%) in 2024, and similar pathogen burdens in the respective site types were observed in the previous year. A similar incidence of MRSA among S. aureus isolates from blood was noted in 2024 (32%) compared to the previous year (33%).
Enterococcus spp. isolated from blood cultures showed 3% vancomycin resistance similar to the previous year. About 9% of E. coli and 43% of Klebsiella spp. isolated from blood were found to be resistant to carbapenems, a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics often used as a last resort for difficult infections.
AMR trends
AMR trends in Kerala for five years from 2018 show that ESBL (Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase, which are enzymes produced by some bacteria that render certain antibiotics ineffective) production as well as carbapenem resistance has been increasing over the years except for E. coli.
ESBL-producing bacteria pose a significant threat to public health, particularly in healthcare settings, and require strict hygiene and infection control measures to prevent their spread. ESBL was observed in 71% of E. coli and 68% of Klebsiella spp. isolated from blood. About 9% of E. coli and 43% of Klebsiella spp. isolated from blood were found to be resistant to carbapenems, a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics often used as a last resort for difficult infections.
A slight increase in the incidence of MRSA has been observed over the past year. But the rate of VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci) shows a downward trend
Despite relatively high levels of resistance among Gramnegative isolates in general, overall resistance to Colistin (an antibiotic of last resort used to treat serious infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gramnegative bacteria) was only 0.2% among Gramnegative isolates.
Published – 10 Nov 2025 20:55 IST
