Infections Due to ESBL-Producing Bacteria are Increasing, Study Finds

Community-associated infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria are a growing concern.
Kassakian and Mermel (2014) conducted a retrospective cohort study of clinical infections due to ESBL-producing bacteria requiring admission from 2006 to 2011 at a tertiary care academic medical center in Providence, R.I.

A total of 321 infections due to ESBL-producing bacteria occurred during the study period. Fifty-eight cases (18%) were community-acquired, 170 (53%) were healthcare-associated, and 93 (29%) were hospital-acquired. The incidence of ESBL infections per 10,000 discharges increased during the study period for both healthcare-associated infections, 1.9 per year (95% CI 1-2.8), and for community-acquired infections, 0.85 per year (95% CI 0.3-1.4) but the rate remained unchanged for hospital-acquired infections. For ESBL-producing E. coli isolates, resistance to both ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was 95% and 65%, respectively but 94% of isolates were susceptible to nitrofurantoin.

The researchers concluded that community-acquired and healthcare-associated infections due to ESBL-producing bacteria are increasing in our community, particularly urinary tract infections due to ESBL-producing E. coli. Most isolates are resistant to oral antibiotics commonly used to treat urinary tract infections. Thus, the findings have important implications for outpatient management of such infections, they add. Their research was published in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.

Reference: Kassakian SZ and Mermel LA.  Changing epidemiology of infections due to extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing bacteria. Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control 2014, 3:9  doi:10.1186/2047-2994-3-9