{"id":8267,"date":"2023-06-30T16:52:15","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T14:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amil-care.com\/2023\/06\/30\/antibiotico-resistenza\/"},"modified":"2023-08-02T13:13:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T11:13:04","slug":"antibiotic-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amil-care.com\/en\/2023\/06\/30\/antibiotic-resistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Antibiotic resistance: what is it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the world continues its efforts against the Sars-CoV-2 virus, one cannot forget “superbugs,” that is, <\/span>bacteria that resist the action of antibiotics. It is enough to mention that these caused the direct deaths of 1.27 million people in 2019 alone.<\/p>\n

This number may not be particularly worrying, but if we think of the estimates that AIDS and malaria caused in 2019 – respectively 860,000 and 640,000 deaths – the perception changes, and not a little.<\/p>\n

The confirmation came thanks to a report published in the scientific journal The Lancet: the careful and timely analysis, entitled “Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance”, also calculated that antibiotic-resistant infections played an important role in almost 5 million of deaths. The scientists’ work covered 204 countries around the world and confirmed that antibiotic resistance (AMR) poses a real threat to the health of all, especially in low- and middle-income countries.<\/p>\n

We at <\/span>AMIL Care<\/span><\/b> believe it is essential to reflect on this issue. For this reason, we decided to dedicate an article intended to assist the work of professionals such as purchasing managers in hospitals, medical equipment managers, clinical engineers (Aiic), safety and hygiene managers (HSE), and clinical risk managers (i.e., risk managers).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Antibiotic resistance: a definition<\/h2>\n

When we talk about <\/span>antibiotic resistance,<\/span><\/b> we mean “the ability of a bacterium to resist the action of one or more antibiotic drugs” and to survive and multiply even in their presence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Antibiotic resistance<\/span><\/b>, at least in part, is a phenomenon that can be natural \u2013 when the bacterium is naturally resistant to an antibiotic -, but also acquired \u2013 when the bacterium adapts to resist an antibiotic through modifications to its genetic heritage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Antibiotic resistance<\/span><\/b> may therefore depend on (and increase) due to human actions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Impact of antibiotic resistance in Italy\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

In Italy, <\/span>the surveillance of antibiotic resistance<\/span><\/b> is coordinated by the Higher Institute of Health and is based on a network of hospital laboratories that send antibiotic sensitivity data for pathogens isolated from invasive infections.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are 8 pathogens under surveillance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Among Gram-positive bacteria:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n