The latest data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria from people, animals and foods in Europe have been released.
Resistance to commonly used antimicrobial agents such as ampicillin, tetracyclines and sulfonamides remains high in people and animals for important pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter.
The report was published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European center for disease prevention and control (ECDC). It includes 2022 to 2023 AMR monitoring by the Member States in Salmonella and Campylobacter from people and food-producing animals such as broilers, chickens and fatty turkeys, fat fertilizers and cattle younger than 1 year and their meat.
The two agencies said that the high resistance to Ciprofloxacin, a critical important fluorochinolone antimicrobial to treat Salmonella and Campylobacter infections is a growing care. Fluorochinolones are no longer recommended to treat Campylobacter infections in humans.
Resistance results
Salmonella infections are usually self-limiting and rarely lead to disorders in which patients receive antibiotics treatment. Infections in the elderly or people with a weakened immune system are more likely to require treatment because symptoms can become serious and sometimes become life -threatening.
The indicator that is normally used to assess the need for antimicrobial treatment is the type of sample from which bacteria are insulated. If it was found in blood, urine, cerebral spinal fluid, wounds or other normal sterile places, this means that the bacteria have invaded the body and are no longer only limited to the gastrointestinal tract.
In 2023, 8 percent of the tested Salmonella isolates for AMR came from blood, urine, pus or spinal cord fluid, indicating that patients needed infections that needed antibiotics treatment. This amounts to several thousand patients in Europe every year.
In Salmonella isolates of people in 2023, the total resistance to Ciprofloxacin was 21.8 percent, with the lowest levels in Salmonella Derby and Monofasian Salmonella Typhimurium and high to extremely high levels in Salmonella Infantis and Salmonella Kentucky. In Salmonella Enteritidis, the most common type detected in humans, the resistance was 30.1 percent.
Resistance to ciprofloxacin increases in Salmonella Enteritidis and Campylobacter Jejuni from people in more than half of the European countries who have submitted data.
Resistance to other critically important antimicrobial agents used in human medicine remains unusual for Salmonella and Campylobacter, both for people and food -producing animals.
The share of isolates that are resistant to the last-line antimicrobial agents Azithromycin and Tigecycline was generally low in people’s salmonella isolates. For Cefotaxime and Ceftazidime, who represent representatives of the third generation of Cephalosporines, the resistance levels were generally low.
Almost half of the European countries that have submitted data indicated a decrease in the resistance of Campylobacter against macrolid antibiotics in human cases. The resistance of Salmonella Typhimurium isolates of people against penicillines and tetracyclines has also decreased.
Multi-drug resistance
Resistance to erythromycin, belonging to macrolids, was very low to low in campylobacter Jejuni of people, but was higher in Campylobacter Coli. Macrolides are now the main class of antibiotics that are used as first-line treatment for Campylobacter infections.
For Campylobacter -Isolates who were tested on AMR in 2023, 1.5 percent were out of blood. Campylobacter does not often cause invasive infections as Salmonella, but it is responsible for almost double the number of cases. Estimates show that nearly 2,300 Campylobacteriosis cases would need antimicrobial treatment in 2023.
Multi -resistance (MDR) was generally moderate in Salmonella in humans ranging from low levels in Salmonella Enteritidis to very high in Monofasian Salmonella Typhimurium and extremely high at Salmonella Kentucky. MDR is defined as resistance to three or more antimicrobial classes.
MDR was generally very low for Campylobacter Jejuni isolated from people but higher for Campylobacter Coli.
Carlos Das Neves, EFSA Chief Scientist, and Piotr Kramarz, ECDC Chief Scientist, said: “Robust surveillance systems, cautious antimicrobial use and cooperation between sector are of crucial importance to reduce the risk that is spread between Dieren and Dieren.”
Other measures include improving infection prevention and control, investing in research for new treatments and the implementation of national policy to combat resistance.
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