According to the first global assessment of their lethality released on Tuesday, bacterial infections are the second most common cause of death in the world, accounting for one in eight of all deaths in 2019.
The massive new study, which was released in the Lancet journal, analyzed deaths from 11 different types of infections and 33 common bacterial pathogens in 204 different nations and territories.
In 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic started, the infections were responsible for 7.7 million deaths, or 13.6% of all fatalities worldwide.
According to the study, this made them the second most common cause of death behind ischemic heart disease, which includes heart attacks.
There were 230 deaths per 100,000 populations from the bacterial infections in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The author Christopher Murray asked for funding for new vaccines, to lessen the number of deaths, also warning against "unwarranted antibiotic use".
