UK Govt Advisers Concerned about Antibiotic Resistant E.coli Strain

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Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 13 Sep 2005 - 0:00 PDT

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Government advisors in the UK say that they are concerned about the spread of ESBL-producing E. coli bacteria. Authorities and health professionals should take the same precautions as those taken to prevent the spread of MRSA.

Surveillance should be the same as it is for MRSA, with doctors reporting every case they identify, say experts.

E.coli are very common, they live in the gut. They are usually harmless. They are also the main cause of urinary tract infections.

The ones that are a cause for concern are the ESBL-producing strains. ESBL means Extended-Spectrum Beta Lactamase - an enzyme. ESBL makes the bacteria more difficult to treat, it becomes more resistant to drugs.

Dr. Georgia Duckworth, one of the authors of a new report issued by the Health Protection Agency, said "Voluntary national surveillance of blood poisoning caused by E. coli from 1994 to 2004 indicates a recent increase in the numbers of infections that are multi-resistant and therefore likely to be ESBL-producing strains. The majority of ESBL-producing E. coli infections seen are sporadic cases, both in the community and in hospitals, and this highlights the fact that E. coli bacteria causing these infections are generally becoming more resistant to antibiotics. Currently, there is no comprehensive surveillance of urinary tract infections in the community so there is no reliable estimate of the number of infections caused by ESBL-producing E. coli strains in the community. The findings in our report show evidence of people carrying these bacteria in their gut. If this is found to be commonplace in the general population this may point towards the food chain being a potential source; however this area still needs researching. Most of the infections have been in elderly people who are already sick with other underlying medical conditions. It mainly occurs in those who have been taking antibiotics or who have been previously hospitalised."

The Health Protection Agency issued the following recommendations in its report:

-- Include urinary tract infections in the community in the surveillance. This would enable a better understanding of the problem.

--Perhaps extend mandatory surveillance caused by bacteria producing the ESBL enzyme

--More research

--Gauge human-to-human infection rates both in hospitals and in the community

--Assessing the level of carriage of ESBL-producing E. coli in the gut flora of the normal population and if found to be commonplace looking at whether ESBL-producing E. coli are prevalent in food, including imported food (especially raw meat)

--Make sure that all labs have a standardised method to identify these infections

--Tell GPs there is a new bug, and that treatment will change as a result

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Editor - Medical News Today
SOURCE: Health Protection Agency, UK.
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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