“ECDC report shows rising resistance in gram-negative bacteria”
“A new European surveillance report shows rising resistance to key antibiotics, and increasing trends in multidrug resistance, in invasive gram-negative bacteria.
The report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), based on data for 2014 from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net), shows that the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) population-weighted mean percentages of invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates resistant to fluoroquinolones, third-generation cephalosporins, and aminoglycosides increased significantly from 2011 through 2014, and combined resistance to all three drugs rose from 16.7% in 2011 to 19.6% in 2014. In addition, the population-weighted mean percentage of K pneumoniae isolates resistant to carbapenems rose from 6.0% in 2011 to 7.3% in 2014. Resistance to carbapenems was more frequently reported in bloodstream infections in southern and southeastern Europe.
During the same period, the percentage of invasive Escherichia coli isolates resistant to third-generation cephalosporins increased from 9.6% to 12.0%, and combined resistance to third-generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides rose from 3.8% to 4.8%. Antimicrobial resistance in Acinetobacter species showed large variations across Europe, with generally high resistance percentages reported from Baltic countries, southern, and southeastern Europe. Combined resistance to fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, and carbapenems was the most frequently reported resistance phenotype in 2014.
Large inter-country variations in the percentage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) isolates were also observed, but the EU/EEA population-weighted mean percentage decreased from 18.6% in 2011 to 17.4% in 2014, continuing the downward trend reported in the 2009-2012 period.
The authors of the report warn that the combination of rising multidrug resistance in gram-negative bacteria, plus additional resistance to carbapenems, means that very few options are left for patients infected with these pathogens. “The ongoing increase in resistance to a number of key antimicrobial groups in invasive bacterial isolates reported to EARS-Net is therefore of great concern and constitutes a serious threat to patient safety in Europe,” they conclude.”
Source: CIDRAP
