# results title text: You got {score} out of {total_questions}.
# wrong text: Sorry, that's incorrect.
# right text: That's correct!
# results text: Thanks for testing your antibiotic resistance awareness. If you’re concerned about the facts shared in this quiz,
urge Congress to take action on this issue.
# social text incomplete: Without new antibiotics, the superbugs will keep winning. Take this 5-question quiz about the growing and urgent threat of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
# social text complete: I took this superbug quiz and got {score} out of {total_questions}. Try it yourself and see how much you know about the growing and urgent public health threat of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
? In 2019, antibiotic-resistant bacteria caused more deaths worldwide than either HIV or malaria.
+ True
! According to a recent study published in
The Lancet, antibiotic-resistant bacteria killed nearly 1.3 million people worldwide in 2019—more deaths that year than those from either HIV or malaria. And unless serious action is taken, that figure could soar to up to 10 million deaths per year by 2050.
- False
? __% of surveyed oncologists worry about the impact that antibiotic-resistant superbugs could have on their patients.
+ 95
! Antibiotics are essential to protecting cancer patients from life-threatening complications. A
2020 survey of oncologists in the U.K. revealed significant concerns about the rise of antibiotic resistance and what it means for patient care. Ninety-five percent said they worry about the impact of superbugs on the future of cancer treatments. Nearly half of those surveyed—46%—said they think chemotherapy will soon no longer be viable as a result.
- 85
- 75
- 55
? In what year did scientists last discover a novel class of antibiotics?
- 1998
- 2006
- 2013
+ 1984
! Every FDA-approved antibiotic in use today is based on scientific discoveries from 1984 or earlier.
New types of antibiotics are critical to overcoming resistant bacteria, but it’s been some 40 years since a truly novel antibiotic has been discovered, and the new types of antibiotics needed to defeat the most dangerous pathogens are not being developed. As a result, we are not even close to keeping pace with the
increasingly resistant superbugs that continue to emerge and spread.
? On average, how many years does it take to develop a new antibiotic?
- 2-3 years
+ 10-15 years
! Historically, it’s taken
about 10-15 years and $1.3 billion to develop a new antibiotic, and those statistics are likely much higher for the truly new types of antibiotics—with novel chemical structure or mode of attack/mechanism of action—that are needed to fight the most dangerous pathogens. In the current antibiotic market, it is virtually impossible for developers to recoup that level of investment. As a result, most major drug companies have abandoned antibiotic research and development, and the small biotechs and start-ups still in the space have gone bankrupt or are struggling to stay afloat.
- 5-7 years
- 17-25 years
? Antibiotic-resistant infections and deaths in hospitals both increased at least __% during the first year of the pandemic.
- 5
- 10
+ 15
! According to a 2022 special report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, resistant hospital-onset infections and deaths both increased at least 15% overall during the first year of the pandemic, with increases for some pathogens as high as 78%. Data from
CDC and
The Pew Charitable Trusts indicates that COVID-19 has exacerbated the problem of antibiotic resistance for a variety of reasons, including the widespread overuse of antibiotics early in the pandemic.
- 20
