Growing resistance to carbapenems

Growing resistance to last-line antibiotics Carbapenems are a major last-line class of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. The spread of carbapenem-resistant infections is a threat to healthcare and patient safety in Europe as it seriously curtails the ability to cure infections. Carbapenems are one of doctors' last possible choice of antibiotics to treat infections due to bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics. Each year, 30 EU/EEA countries report data on antimicrobial resistance to the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) and on antimicrobial consumption to the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption network (ESAC-Net). Both networks are hosted at ECDC. For the first time, 18 countries reported data on Acinetobacter spp. to EARS-Net. In addition, experts in 38 European countries participated in the European Survey on Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae (EUSCAPE) done for EĆDC by the University Medical Centre Groningen, The Netherlands. Carbapenemase- producing Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) 2013 Carbapenem- resistant Enterobacteriaceae (СРЕ) 2010 Nr. of countries / Countries surveyed 3/30 3/30 O No case CPE - Epidemiological stages Sporadic occurrence Single hospital outbreak O Sporadic hospital outbreaks Regional spread Inter-regional spread O Endemic situation 2|30 idemiological stages 4/30 2013 7/30 5/30 CRAB - Epidemiological stages 13/38 25/38 1/30 countries reported an uncertain stage countries reported a certain stage 3/30