To mark the 7th European Antibiotic Awareness Day, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has released EU-wide data on antibiotic resistance.
The data finds that although carbapenem resistance remains at relatively low levels for most countries, there has been an increase of carbapenem resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae from a population-weighted EU average percentage of 4.6% in 2010 to 8.3% in 2013. For the first time in 2013, ECDC monitored resistance to polymyxins (e.g. colistin) in Klebsiella pneumoniae across Europe. Colistin is a last-line antibiotic developed several decades ago that has side-effects and limitations to its use, but has become essential for the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infections. Increasing resistance against colistin is “a cause for serious concern and a threat to patient safety”, according to the ECDC.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety said: "The near doubling of resistance in a certain bacteria in three years is truly alarming, and illustrates the need to tackle the issue from all directions. Antimicrobial resistance is one the most pressing public health issues of our time, and as incoming health Commissioner, I pledge to prioritise it throughout my five year mandate".
ECDC Director, Dr Marc Sprenger, said: "According to our data, resistance to colistin was observed in 5% of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates for the EU overall. This gives us an important indication of the challenges that patients across Europe are currently facing, including access and use of old antibiotics such as polymyxins when there is a clinical need for their use. Resistance against colistin is already reported in some countries in Europe and this is a worrying development. With a smaller number of effective antibiotics, we are gradually returning to the "pre-antibiotic era", when bacterial diseases could not be treated and most patients would die from their infection because there was no effective treatment".
ECDC data also show that the percentage of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to meticillin (MRSA) decreased at EU/EEA level for the period 2010 to 2013, but the decrease was less pronounced compared to the previous four-year period. However, MRSA remains a public health problem in Europe. In 2013, seven out of 30 reporting countries had MRSA percentages above 25%.
Dr Sprenger also added: "Although the vast majority of human consumption occurs in the community, antibiotic consumption in hospitals is a main driver for the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria responsible for healthcare-associated infections. There is an urgent need for all European countries to look broadly at the continuum of care and tackle several factors related to prudent antibiotic use, from primary care in the community to the most specialised wards in hospitals".
Inforgraphic courtesy of ECDC.
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