Posts Tagged ‘Resistance’
Is there a relationship between biocide use and antimicrobial resistance?
The next article in the AJIC special issue on ‘Disinfection, sterilization, and antisepsis’ is a mini-review on whether there is a relationship between biocide use and antimicrobial resistance. Reassuringly, despite the widespread use of biocides in healthcare settings (and in consumer markets), acquired resistance has rarely been reported. The review begins with setting some terminology and drawing…
Read MoreHow worried should we be about biocide resistance?
We all know the issues with antibiotic resistance: no matter how quickly we develop new antibiotics, resistance develops and the antibiotics are no longer useful clinically. Biocides are different, as outlined in a recent review paper: resistance is slower to develop, more subtle, and usually less important clinically. But it does happen – more with some…
Read MoreEmergency! Addressing contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in ambulances
The last thing you need if you require the services of an emergency ambulance is exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from contaminated surfaces. A recent US study suggests that this is commonplace, finding MRSA environmental contamination in every single emergency ambulance tested! These findings reinforce the need for thorough cleaning and disinfection of emergency ambulances. The study team…
Read MoreThe 2018 ESPAUR Report: progress but worrying trends
The 2018 English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR) report has just been released by Public Health England (PHE) and, as with most reports the results show a mixed picture. The good news is that total antibiotic consumption has fallen by 6% over the past four years and is [now] at the lowest level since…
Read MoreExtensive environmental contamination with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii
A study from Singapore has highlighted extensive environmental contamination with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in the ICU. This reinforces the need for enhanced environmental measures to reduce the transmission of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in the ICU setting. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is in many ways a scary organism: it’s highly resistant to antibiotics with few therapeutic options left in some cases, seems to spread readily…
Read MoreColistin resistance genes found lurking on hospital surfaces
The emergence of colistin resistance in antibiotic resistant Gram-negative bacteria like CPE is a real concern. An Italian study just published has discovered colistin-resistance genes (mcr-1) on hospital surfaces. This raises the worrying possibility that hospital surfaces could be an important reservoir from which colistin resistance genes could spread to bacteria that cause healthcare-associated infection, making infections…
Read MoreCross-resistance between biocides and antibiotics doesn’t seem to be a problem
A new study from Jordan has reinforced that cross-resistance between biocides and antibiotics doesn’t seem to be a problem. The study found that although multidrug-resistant E. coli were commonly identified from the environment in both hospital and community settings, there was no evidence of cross-resistance between antibiotics and biocides, and all E. coli were susceptible to in-use concentrations of biocides. 21…
Read MoreLook out: antiseptic resistance genes about!
A Turkish study has found a surprisingly high rate of antiseptic resistance gene carriage in clinical isolates of staphylococci (71% of 69 isolates carried either qacA/B or smr, which have been associated with reduced susceptibility to chlorhexidine). This study highlights the potential for bacteria to eventually develop reduced susceptibility or resistance to whatever is thrown their way! The study team…
Read MoreChlorhexidine resistance: a remote risk?
A helpful US study tracked the non-emergence of phenotypic or genotypic chlorhexidine resistance associated with hospital-wide use of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) antisepsis. The 700 bed hospital introduced hospital wide CHG bathing in 2010, removed it in 2011, and reinstated it in 2015. They evaluated a collection of S. aureus isolates that were considered hospital-acquired and found that there was…
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