scholarly journals COVID-19 and Antimicrobial Resistance: Data from the Greek Electronic System for the Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance—WHONET-Greece (January 2018–March 2021)

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 996
Author(s):  
Michalis Polemis ◽  
Georgia Mandilara ◽  
Olga Pappa ◽  
Athina Argyropoulou ◽  
Efstathia Perivolioti ◽  
...  

Changes in hospitals’ daily practice due to COVID-19 pandemic may have an impact on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We aimed to assess this possible impact as captured by the Greek Electronic System for the Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (WHONET-Greece). Routine susceptibility data of 17,837 Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial isolates from blood and respiratory specimens of hospitalized patients in nine COVID-19 tertiary hospitals were used in order to identify potential differences in AMR trends in the last three years, divided into two periods, January 2018–March 2020 and April 2020–March 2021. Interrupted time-series analysis was used to evaluate differences in the trends of non-susceptibility before and after the changes due to COVID-19. We found significant differences in the slope of non-susceptibility trends of Acinetobacter baumannii blood and respiratory isolates to amikacin, tigecycline and colistin; of Klebsiella pneumoniae blood and respiratory isolates to meropenem and tigecycline; and of Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory isolates to imipenem, meropenem and levofloxacin. Additionally, we found significant differences in the slope of non-susceptibility trends of Staphylococcus aureus isolates to oxacillin and of Enterococcus faecium isolates to glycopeptides. Assessing in this early stage, through surveillance of routine laboratory data, the way a new global threat like COVID-19 could affect an already ongoing pandemic like AMR provides useful information for prompt action.

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (34) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michalis Polemis ◽  
Kyriaki Tryfinopoulou ◽  
Panagiota Giakkoupi ◽  
Alkiviadis Vatopoulos ◽  

Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) changes over time and continuous monitoring provides insight on trends to inform both empirical treatment and public health action. Aims To survey trends in relative isolation frequency (RIF) and AMR among key bloodstream pathogens using data from the Greek Electronic System for the Surveillance of AMR (WHONET-Greece). Methods This observational study looked into routine susceptibility data of 50,488 blood culture isolates from hospitalised patients in 25 tertiary hospitals, participating in the WHONET-Greece for trends over time between January 2010 and December 2017. Only the first isolate per species from each patient was included. Hospital wards and intensive care units (ICUs) were analysed separately. Results During the study, the RIF of Acinetobacter baumannii increased in wards, as did the proportion of A. baumannii isolates, which were non-susceptible to most antibiotics in both wards and ICUs. Coincidently, Klebsiella pneumoniae RIF declined while the respective rates of non-susceptible isolates to carbapenems and gentamicin increased. Pseudomonas aeruginosa RIF remained stable but decreasing proportions of non-susceptible isolates to all studied antibiotics, except imipenem were observed. Escherichia coli RIF increased as did the proportion of isolates non-susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins, carbapenems and fluoroquinolones. Concerning Staphylococcus aureus, a decline in the percentage of meticillin resistant isolates in ICUs was found, while the percentages of Enterococcus faecium isolates with non-susceptibility to vancomycin stayed stable. Conclusions Recognising these trends over time is important, since the epidemiology of AMR is complex, involving different ‘bug and drug’ combinations. This should be taken into consideration to control AMR.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259632
Author(s):  
Fernanda Saad Rodrigues ◽  
Helena Ribeiro Aiello Amat ◽  
Carlos Magno Castelo Branco Fortaleza

Background Antimicrobial resistance in community-associated infections is an increasing worldwide concern. In low-to-middle income countries, over-the-counter (OTC) sales of antimicrobials without medical prescription have been blamed for increasing consumption and resistance. We studied the impact of restriction of OTC sales of antimicrobials in Brazil (instituted in October 2010) on resistance trends of Escherichia coli from community-onset urinary tract infections. Methods We analyzed monthly resistance trend of Escherichia coli from community-onset urinary tract infections from 2005 through 2018. The data were submitted to interrupted time series analysis in both linear and Poisson regression models. Results We found impact on cefazolin (p<0.001) and amikacin (p<0.001) resistance as immediate impact of the intervention, and no beneficial impact on resistance to ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone or sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. Conclusion At the present study, we found that OTC sales restriction did not generally impact on antimicrobial resistance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 83-89
Author(s):  
Onoriode Oyiborhoro ◽  
Emmanuel O Oshomoh ◽  
Enoh F. Akpojotor

The current global rise in the morbidity and mortality rates of infectious diseases is due in part, to the problem of antimicrobial resistance. The global threat of antimicrobial resistance is also partly a consequence of widespread inappropriate prescription and use of antibiotics, sometimes on empirical basis, without any established antimicrobial susceptibility data-based guidelines on such empirical use.  In the present study, we re-examined the susceptibility pattern of organisms isolated from active carious lesions to some commonly prescribed antibiotics and suggest a comprehensive data generation and establishment of guidelines based on a holistic assessment of susceptibility pattern of different organisms to the different classes of antibiotics commonly prescribed in various branches of medicine. For instance, our results revealed significant resistance of cariogenic organisms such as Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus to Amoxicillin, Gentamicin, Tarivid, Chloramphenicol and Sparfloxacin, with good susceptibility to Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, Pefloxacin and Streptomycin. These findings suggest that the latter group of antibiotics could function better than Amoxicillin in the prophylactic and empirical management of dental caries and other oral infections prior to obtaining antimicrobial susceptibility test results.  Keywords: Antimicrobial, Susceptibility, Empirical, Resistance.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 756-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditi Kaushik ◽  
Manish Kaushik ◽  
Viney Lather ◽  
J.S. Dua

An emerging crisis of antibiotic resistance for microbial pathogens is alarming all the nations, posing a global threat to human health. The production of the metallo-&#946;-lactamase enzyme is the most powerful strategy of bacteria to produce resistance. An efficient way to combat this global health threat is the development of broad/non-specific type of metallo-&#946;-lactamase inhibitors, which can inhibit the different isoforms of the enzyme. Till date, there are no clinically active drugs against metallo- &#946;-lactamase. The lack of efficient drug molecules against MBLs carrying bacteria requires continuous research efforts to overcome the problem of multidrug-resistance bacteria. The present review will discuss the clinically potent molecules against different variants of B1 metallo-&#946;-lactamase.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135581962110089
Author(s):  
Roberto Grilli ◽  
Federica Violi ◽  
Maria Chiara Bassi ◽  
Massimiliano Marino

Objectives To review the evidence of the effects of centralization of cancer surgery on postoperative mortality. Methods We searched Medline, Embase, Cinahl, Cochrane and Scopus (up to November 2019) for studies that (i) assessed the effects of centralization of cancer surgery policies on in-hospital or 30-day mortality, or (ii) described changes in both postoperative mortality for a surgical intervention and degree of centralization using reduction in the number of hospitals or increases in the proportion of patients undergoing cancer surgery at high volume hospitals as proxy. PRISMA guidelines were followed. We estimated pooled odds ratios (OR) and conducted meta-regression to assess the relationship between degree of centralization and mortality. Results A total of 41 studies met our inclusion criteria of which 15 evaluated the effect of centralization policies on postoperative mortality after cancer surgery and 26 described concurrent changes in the degree of centralization and postoperative mortality. Policy evaluation studies mainly used before-after designs (n = 13) or interrupted time series analysis (n = 2), mainly focusing on pancreatic, oesophageal and gastric cancer. All but one showed some degree of reduction in postoperative mortality, with statistically significant effects demonstrated by six studies. The pooled odds ratio for centralization policy effect was 0.68 (95% Confidence interval: 0.54–0.85; I2 = 80%). Meta-regression analysis of the 26 descriptive studies found that an increase of the proportion of patients treated at high volume hospitals was associated with greater reduction in postoperative mortality. Conclusions Centralization of cancer surgery is associated with reduced postoperative mortality. However, existing evidence tends to be of low quality and estimates of the effect size are likely inflated. There is a need for prospective studies using more robust approaches, and for centralization efforts to be accompanied by well-designed evaluations of their effectiveness.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Martin ◽  
Edwin Amalraj Raja ◽  
Steve Turner

Abstract Background Service reconfiguration of inpatient services in a hospital includes complete and partial closure of all emergency inpatient facilities. The “natural experiment” of service reconfiguration may give insight into drivers for emergency admissions to hospital. This study addressed the question does the prevalence of emergency admission to hospital for children change after reconfiguration of inpatient services? Methods There were five service reconfigurations in Scottish hospitals between 2004 and 2018 where emergency admissions to one “reconfigured” hospital were halted (permanently or temporarily) and directed to a second “adjacent” hospital. The number of emergency admissions (standardised to /1000 children in the regional population) per month to the “reconfigured” and “adjacent” hospitals was obtained for five years prior to reconfiguration and up to five years afterwards. An interrupted time series analysis considered the association between reconfiguration and admissions across pairs comprised of “reconfigured” and “adjacent” hospitals, with adjustment for seasonality and an overall rising trend in admissions. Results Of the five episodes of reconfiguration, two were immediate closure, two involved closure only to overnight admissions and one with overnight closure for a period and then closure. In “reconfigured” hospitals there was an average fall of 117 admissions/month [95% CI 78, 156] in the year after reconfiguration compared to the year before, and in “adjacent” hospitals admissions rose by 82/month [32, 131]. Across paired reconfigured and adjacent hospitals, in the months post reconfiguration, the overall number of admissions to one hospital pair slowed, in another pair admissions accelerated, and admission prevalence was unchanged in three pairs. After reconfiguration in one hospital, there was a rise in admissions to a third hospital which was closer than the named “adjacent” hospital. Conclusions There are diverse outcomes for the number of emergency admissions post reconfiguration of inpatient facilities. Factors including resources placed in the community after local reconfiguration, distance to the “adjacent” hospital and local deprivation may be important drivers for admission pathways after reconfiguration. Policy makers considering reconfiguration might consider a number of factors which may be important determinants of admissions post reconfiguration.


2021 ◽  
pp. 140349482110132
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Konieczna ◽  
Sarah Grube Jakobsen ◽  
Christina Petrea Larsen ◽  
Erik Christiansen

Aim: The aim of this study is to analyse the potential impact from the financial crisis (onset in 2009) on suicide rates in Denmark. The hypothesis is that the global financial crisis raised unemployment which leads to raising the suicide rate in Denmark and that the impact is most prominent in men. Method: This study used an ecological study design, including register data from 2001 until 2016 on unemployment, suicide, gender and calendar time which was analysed using Poisson regression models and interrupted time series analysis. Results: The correlation between unemployment and suicide rates was positive in the period and statistically significant for all, but at a moderate level. A dichotomised version of time (calendar year) showed a significant reduction in the suicide rate for women (incidence rate ratio 0.87, P=0.002). Interrupted time series analysis showed a significant decreasing trend for the overall suicide rate and for men in the pre-recession period, which in both cases stagnated after the onset of recession in 2009. The difference between the genders’ suicide rate changed significantly at the onset of recession, as the rate for men increased and the rate for women decreased. Discussion: The Danish social welfare model might have prevented social disintegration and suicide among unemployed, and suicide prevention programmes might have prevented deaths among unemployed and mentally ill individuals. Conclusions: We found some indications for gender-specific differences from the impact of the financial crises on the suicide rate. We recommend that men should be specifically targeted for appropriate prevention programmes during periods of economic downturn.


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