- Microbiology Superbugs: The Next Microbiological Threat
In 2023, 23,303 people will die in Spain from multidrug-resistant bacteria; caused by pathogens that do not respond to available antibiotics. This is estimated by a study carried out by the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC) presented on Monday in Madrid, which highlights that the number of deaths related to antimicrobial resistance "is 20 times higher than the number of people who died in traffic accidents in Spain in 2022, which was 1,145, according to data from the DGT".
"Our goal is for these data to serve to raise awareness among citizens and professionals about a formidable problem that has a very important impact on health," said José Miguel Cisneros, head of the Infectious Diseases Service at the Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville and coordinator of the aforementioned study during his presentation. within the framework of the conference 'Fight against resistance: institutional, professional and patient perspectives'.
Cisneros stressed that, according to the estimates of the research, called 'SEIMC-BMR 2023' and in which 260 researchers from 130 Spanish hospitals have participated, in our country there will be 159,174 infections by bacteria that do not respond to treatments because they have developed resistance mechanisms against their action throughout this year.
Among these 'superbugs' is 'Escherichia coli producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases', a pathogen that causes 25% of the cases studied in this research.
According to the study, urinary tract infection is the most frequent problem associated with resistance to tuberculosis, while pneumonia is the infection that causes the highest mortality. 45% of multidrug-resistant infections occurred in hospitals, according to the research, which also estimates that 189,535 years of life have been lost due to these pathogens.
"The study provides knowledge of great epidemiological, clinical and health management value on infections by these bacteria in our country," said Cisneros, who recalled that antimicrobial resistance is, according to the World Health Organization, one of the 10 greatest threats to global public health, "one of the greatest challenges we will face in the <>st century."
In 2019, there were almost five million deaths associated with antimicrobial resistance worldwide, a problem that threatens to reverse the medical advances made in recent decades. If we run out of tools to fight bacterial infections, operations as simple as a tooth extraction could become an insurmountable risk.
The figures from the 'SEIMC-BMR 2023' study are similar to those shown in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the study (both in mortality and deaths, which, according to Cisneros, "demonstrates the effectiveness of what is being done [to combat antimicrobial resistance] and, at the same time, indicates that it is not enough. More attention needs to be paid to the problem," he stressed.
The study followed multidrug-resistant infections detected in 14 hospitals of different sizes across the country for 130 days, which "represents 40% of the available inpatient beds in the country." Each case was followed up for 30 days after diagnosis to analyze mortality. In total, 2,307 patients were analysed, 54% of whom were male, with a mean age of 70.8 years.
"Infections with multidrug-resistant bacteria affect the most debilitated people the most, including the elderly, but it is a mistake to think that it can only affect them. This type of infection can affect everyone," Cisneros said.
The data from the study, the researchers pointed out during the presentation, "should be interpreted with caution because they are estimates," although the methodology of the study and the similarity of the results with other editions allow us to assess the robustness of the conclusions, they stressed.