Patients seeking treatment in hospital or other health care facilities can be particularly vulnerable to infections they acquire during their stay, especially if the infections are difficult to treat because they are resistant to commonly used drugs. For example, Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are known to particularly affect hospitalized patients. Two studies published in Eurosurveillance marking World AMR Awareness Week from 18 to 22 November 2024, analyzed new data on the spread of such CRE, namely Escherichia coli sequence type (ST)131 producing various carbapenemases and New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1)-producing Providencia stuartii to inform potential public health action.
Escherichia coli lineage with emerging resistance pattern spreads in the community In a rapid communication , Kohlenberg and collaborators assessed genomic and epidemiological data from 17 EU/EEA countries and observed an emergence of Escherichia coli that produces carbapenemases. Worldwide, E. coli is the pathogen associated with most deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance and the specific type of E.
coli that the authors investigated in their study (ST 131) has been detected across the world and is frequently associated with multidrug-resistance. Kohlenberg and collaborators analyzed the sequencing and epidemiological data of almost 600 E. coli ST131 isolates provided by national reference laboratories from Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary.