The World Health Organization has published the latest data on the extent of the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant strains in the world. The problem of superbugs has become global – it affects both highly developed and low-income countries.
WHO collected data using a new drug-resistant infection monitoring system, the Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System (GLASS). The results are very disturbing, although not surprisingly – not good. Bacterial strains resistant to standard antibiotics were found in 500. sick in 22 countries.
The most frequently detected bacterial species that developed drug resistance were: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Salmonella spp. It should be noted, however, that the GLASS system does not take into account drug-resistant tuberculosis mycobacteria – in the case of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Mycobacterium since 1994. a separate register, and the data from it are published each year in the «Global Tuberculosis Report».
Drug-resistant bacteria in patients with suspected sepsis are of particular clinical importance. In this group of patients, the percentage of resistant strains varied greatly between countries – from 0 to 82%, with species that developed resistance to penicillin was found in 0 to 51%. patients with blood poisoning.
On the other hand, in the case of urinary tract infections caused by E. coli, bacterial resistance to ciproflocacin has been demonstrated – depending on the country – in between 8% and 65%. patients.
“The report confirms just how serious a problem antibiotic resistance has become worldwide,” comments Dr. Marc Sprenger, director of the Antimicrobial Resistance Secretariat at WHO. Some of the most common and potentially most dangerous infections have become drug resistant. Pathogens do not respect national borders, which is why WHO encourages all countries to implement modern systems of surveillance and detection of drug resistance – adds the specialist.
To date, the GLASS system has covered 52 countries (25 highly developed, 20 developing and 7 lowest income countries). Poland was included in the system in August 2016, but the first edition of the report, published on January 29, 2018, does not contain data from our country.