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Increase in drug-resistant infection reported in U.S. hospitals
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A recent study shows a rise in drug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter, bacteria reported in American soldiers returning from Iraq and commonly affecting patients in intensive care units.
The study, conducted by researchers from the Extending the Cure project, appears in the on-line version of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and is scheduled for publication in the journal’s February print edition.
In the study, the researchers used data from 300 U.S. hospitals to analyze trends regarding the bacteria’s resistance to imipenem — an antibiotic often used as a final treatment against Acinetobacter. The researchers discovered a more than 300% increase in the ratio of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter cases between 1999 and 2006, according to a press release.
“The findings are troubling because they suggest this bacteria is becoming resistant to nearly everything in our arsenal,” Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD, MPH, the principal investigator of the project noted in the press release. “There is a lot of attention on MRSA, but less on infections caused by bacteria like Acinetobacter for which there are fewer drugs in the development pipeline. While all drug resistance is of concern, it is particularly worrying in the case of bugs for which we have few treatment options.”
The researchers suggested that the United States implement a comprehensive solution to antibiotic resistance, such as adopting more stringent regional infection control. They also suggested providing incentives to drug companies to create antibiotics for these resistant strains.
- For more information:
Hoffmann MS, Eber MR, Laxminarayan R. Increasing resistance of Acinetobacter species to imipenem in United States Hospitals, 1999-2006. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2009; Dec 23. [Epub ahead of print].