Yesterday we looked at a CDC HAN: Alerting Healthcare Facilities Of 1st MCR-1 Gene Detection In US Patient and today we have a Rapid Risk Assessment by the ECDC on the growing threat of colistin resistant bacterial infections.
Despite huge gaps in surveillance data, the ECDC does their usual thorough job of presenting what is known about the threat.
Follow the link to download the full report.
Plasmid-mediated colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae
PDF FILE
15 Jun 2016
The recently recognised global distribution of a self-transferable plasmid-borne colistin resistance gene (mcr-1) poses a substantial public health risk to the EU/EEA because it further limits treatment options in patients with infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria. It can spread colistin resistance more easily between bacteria and humans than chromosomal mutation.
MDR gram-negative bacteria, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae strains that acquire the mcr-1 gene, remain susceptible to only a few antimicrobial agents, which means that infections caused by these strains are very difficult to treat.
This is a topic we've covered extensively in the past, going back to November of last year when the first cases were announced. A partial list of earlier blogs includes:
