AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID), LSHTM, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Epidemiology and Public Health, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom; TB Centre, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
Rebecca E Glover
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Department of Health Services Research and Policy, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
C Finn McQuaid
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID), LSHTM, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Epidemiology and Public Health, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom; TB Centre, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
Ioana D Olaru
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom; Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Zambezi River, Zimbabwe
Karin Gallandat
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID), LSHTM, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Epidemiology and Public Health, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID), LSHTM, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Epidemiology and Public Health, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
Sam J Willcocks
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan; Department of Immunology and Infection, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
Esther van Kleef
Department of Public Heath, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
AMR Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom; Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, LSHTM, London, United Kingdom
Before the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was among the top priorities for global public health. Already a complex challenge, AMR now needs to be addressed in a changing healthcare landscape. Here, we analyse how changes due to COVID-19 in terms of antimicrobial usage, infection prevention, and health systems affect the emergence, transmission, and burden of AMR. Increased hand hygiene, decreased international travel, and decreased elective hospital procedures may reduce AMR pathogen selection and spread in the short term. However, the opposite effects may be seen if antibiotics are more widely used as standard healthcare pathways break down. Over 6 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the dynamics of AMR remain uncertain. We call for the AMR community to keep a global perspective while designing finely tuned surveillance and research to continue to improve our preparedness and response to these intersecting public health challenges.
