Antibiotic Resistance on Rise in Europe

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Bill Marler

Antibiotics to prevent bacterial infection in organ transplants, hip replacements, cancer chemotherapy, intensive care and neonatal care for premature babies will become ineffective due to antibiotics overuse, according to Dominique Monnet at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Approximately 25,000 deaths are caused by antibiotics in Europe each year; six by the most common infections including MSRA. Superbug infections currently add 900 million euros each year to hospital costs.

"The latest data confirms that across the European Union the number of patients infected by resistant bacteria is increasing and that antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health," says Monnet.

Responsible use of antibiotics is advocated by the ECDC as key to preventing the development of resistant bacteria. November 18 is this year's Antibiotic Awareness Day designed to raise awareness of how to use antibiotics responsibly.

In late November, the ECDE is due to publish a new survey of intensive care specialists across Europe which reveals 21% of specialists said they had seen – within the last six months – three or more patients suffering from infections that were totally or almost totally resistant to antibiotics. 8% of the specialists had seen more that 10 such patients over the same period.

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Antibiotic-Resistant Infections (MRSA) Cost the U.S. Healthcare System in Excess of $20 Billion Annually

Posted on October 19, 2009 by Bill Marler

The Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) and Cook County Hospital (currently John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County) announce the release of an eye-opening study on the economic impact of antibiotic overuse and antibiotic-resistant infections (ARIs) sponsored by an unrestricted educational grant from bioMerieux and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The authors conducted an exhaustive chart-by-chart review of 1,391 patients hospitalized in the year 2000, 188 of which had ARIs (13.5 percent). The medical costs attributed to these ARIs ranged from $18,588 to $29,069 per patient, while the duration of hospital stay was extended 6.4 - 12.7 days for affected patients. Additionally, the excess mortality attributed to ARIs alone was 6.5 percent -- a death rate two-fold higher than in patients without ARIs. The authors also estimated the societal costs incurred at this hospital as a result of the ARIs to be between $10.7 and $15 million, which is the cost that hits the families of those infected.

The study, "Hospital and Societal Costs of Antimicrobial Resistant Infections in a Chicago Teaching Hospital: Implications for Antibiotic Stewardship," analyzed the medical and human cost associated with ARIs. It was conducted at the Cook County (Stroger) Hospital of Chicago. Several studies have looked at the medical costs of these infections, but this is the first to look at the cost to families as well.

Antibiotic resistance is fueled by misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Bacteria become resistant to the very medicines developed to treat and cure the infection they cause. ARIs include methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and a growing number of additional pathogens that are developing resistance to many common antibiotics.

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