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ECDC reviews risk posed by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae 鈥� the subject of an updated rapid risk assessment published by ECDC [1] 鈥� represent a risk to patients and healthcare systems, causing infections associated with high mortality due to the limited treatment options available. Outbreaks in healthcare settings have been reported by several EU/EEA countries including the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the UK [1].

The new risk assessment, updating ECDC鈥檚 first report in April 2016, provides a comprehensive review of the state of knowledge about carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) including:

• the various and complex 鈥� usually enzyme-mediated 鈥� mechanisms involved in the spread of resistance
• the extent of proliferation across the EU/EEA of the 2 resistant strains that are currently of greatest concern.

A series of control actions are put forward covering:

• prevention and control of spread within healthcare systems, including pre-emptive infection prevention and control measures for patients at high risk
• prevention of spread via the food chain
• prevention of cross-border spread
• long-term, world-wide measures to improve the capacity for resistance detection and surveillance in low-resource countries

The report includes graphical presentation of data and maps 鈥� from the ECDC EARS-Net annual report [2] 鈥� that indicates, in some cases, a high variance in the national rates of carbapenem resistance in invasive disease isolates across the continent.

References

1. ECDC (4 June 2018). .
2. ECDC (November 2017). .

Infection reports in this issue of HPR

This issue of HPR includes infection reports on:

• Routine reports of foodborne illness in humans, England and Wales: weeks 18 to 21, 2018
• Suspected and laboratory confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals: outbreaks occurring in weeks 18 to 21, 2018.