In the first report of its kind, the World Health Organization has announced antibiotic resistance -- when bacteria change to the point antibiotics can no longer stem the infections they cause -- has become a serious threat across the globe.

The WHO study warns antibiotic resistance "is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country," said an agency news release.

"Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill," said Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's Assistant Director-General for Health Security.

"Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier, and benefit from modern medicine," he said. "Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating."

The analysis, "Antimicrobial resistance: global report on surveillance," said resistance is being detected across many different infectious agents, including seven specific bacteria responsible for common, serious diseases such as bloodstream infections (sepsis), diarrhoea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhoea.

The results, added Fukuda, particularly troubling for the bacterial resistence to even so-called "last resort" antibiotics.

The report said operating and maintaining basic systems to track and monitor the problem is key to tackling antibiotic resistance worldwide.

Other important measures to counter the antibiotic resistance include preventing infections from happening in the first place, with better methods of hygiene, access to clean water, infection control in health treatment facilities and vaccination.

Main points from the report include:

"Resistance to the treatment of last resort for life-threatening infections caused by a common intestinal bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae-carbapenem antibiotics-has spread to all regions of the world. K. pneumoniae is a major cause of hospital-acquired infections such as pneumonia, bloodstream infections, infections in newborns and intensive-care unit patients. In some countries, because of resistance, carbapenem antibiotics would not work in more than half of people treated for K. pneumoniae infections.

"Resistance to one of the most widely used antibacterial medicines for the treatment of urinary tract infections caused by E. coli-fluoroquinolones-is very widespread. In the 1980s, when these drugs were first introduced, resistance was virtually zero. Today, there are countries in many parts of the world where this treatment is now ineffective in more than half of patients.

"Treatment failure to the last resort of treatment for gonorrhoea -- third generation cephalosporins -- has been confirmed in Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. More than 1 million people are infected with gonorrhoea around the world every day.

"Antibiotic resistance causes people to be sick for longer and increases the risk of death. For example, people with MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are estimated to be 64 percent more likely to die than people with a non-resistant form of the infection. Resistance also increases the cost of health care with lengthier stays in hospital and more intensive care required."