{"id":8296,"date":"2023-06-21T00:50:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T22:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amil-care.com\/2023\/06\/21\/aumento-antibiotico-resistenza-prevenzione\/"},"modified":"2023-08-30T10:35:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T08:35:36","slug":"increase-antibiotic-resistance-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amil-care.com\/en\/2023\/06\/21\/increase-antibiotic-resistance-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Antibiotic resistance on the rise: a trend to be reversed with prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most serious consequences that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it has been the <\/span>increase in antibiotic resistance<\/span><\/b>, a phenomenon which, according to the latest Report of the <\/span>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <\/span><\/b><\/a>(CDC) <\/span>of the United States, resulted in a 15% increase in infections and deaths due to antibiotic-resistant pathogens. <\/span>Alarming data that highlight a threat that cannot be ignored and needs to be addressed promptly with effective tools.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But before studying prevention methods, let’s take a small step back: what is meant by antibiotic resistance?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We at AMIL Care think it is essential to reflect on this issue. For this reason, we have decided to dedicate an article to you, designed to assist the work of professionals such as purchasing managers in hospitals, medical equipment management managers, clinical engineers (Aiic), safety and hygiene managers (HSE), those responsible for clinical risk management (that is, risk managers).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Antibiotic resistance: a problem that affects everyone<\/h2>\n

From the website of the Istituto Superiore di Sanit\u00e0 (ISS) we read that: \u201cThe term antibiotic resistance means the ability of a bacterium to resist the action of one or more antibiotic drugs and therefore to survive and multiply even in their presence. This type of resistance can be both innate (when the bacterium is naturally resistant to an antibiotic) and acquired (when a bacterium becomes resistant to the action of an antibiotic drug through modifications to its genetic heritage).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, <\/span>recently<\/span>, some antibiotics commonly used to treat bacterial infections (such as penicillin in bacterial pneumonia) have become less effective or even no longer work due to excessive and often incorrect use. This leads to several problems because <\/span>any bacterium that survives an antibiotic treatment can become resistant<\/span><\/b>, multiply and transfer <\/span>its antibiotic resistance <\/span>to other bacteria as well.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not to mention that the spread of resistant bacteria in hospitals and health care facilities is a safety issue for patients, increases the number of cases of illness and death and the length of hospitalizations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also,<\/span> from the ISS data, it is estimated that in Italy about 30-60% of the bacteria that cause hospital and healthcare-related infections are resistant to the most commonly used antibiotics (first choice). For this reason, the greatest concern is that bacteria resistant to all available antibiotics (pan-resistant) may develop.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly declared antibiotic resistance as one of the main public health problems worldwide and has produced a series of recommendations and strategies to try to contain this phenomenon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The CDC Report: increasing prevention in structures<\/h2>\n

The recently published CDC Report, entitled “<\/span>COVID-19 Reverses Progress in Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance in the U.S<\/span><\/b>“, as we mentioned at the beginning, describes an alarming situation. In the United States, there was a 15% increase in infections and deaths due to antibiotic-resistant pathogens in 2020 alone. The report analyzed data on infections due to resistant bacteria in the first year of the pandemic, finding that more than 29,400 people died due to an <\/span>antibiotic-resistant infection<\/span><\/b> and that in 40% of cases the infection was contacted in hospital.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pathogens that caused the most infections were:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n