Resistant Salmonella bacteria discovered

Researchers report antibiotic-resistant salmonella

04.08.2011

Scientists at the renowned Pasteur Institute in Paris warn against the spread of resistant salmonella, which can no longer harm the antibiotics commonly used to treat Salmonella infections. The so-called Salmonella enterica serotype Kentucky (short Salmonella Kentucky) have occurred in the past decade both in Europe, as well as in Africa and the Middle East.

Given the spread of the resistant Salmonella strain, health authorities worldwide are urged to take appropriate precautions, the researchers write in the latest issue of the journal „Journal of Infectious Diseases“. In their study, between 2000 and 2008, researchers in France, the United Kingdom and Denmark detected around 500 infections with Salmonella Kentucky.

Health risk from Salmonella infections
The common Salmonella common in eggs and poultry, among other things, are generally a not to be underestimated health risk, the researchers report. In particular, people with an already weakened immune system threaten significant health problems that may even be fatal. According to figures from the Robert Koch Institute, more than 40,000 people in Germany are infected with the dangerous germs every year, with fever, spasmodic abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting being among the most common symptoms of Salmonella infection (salmonellosis). However, the infectious disease can certainly take a more serious course, as the annually recorded in Germany about 30 deaths illustrate. Salmonella is one of the most widespread health risks worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of salmonella infections in North America alone is estimated at 1.7 million a year. In European countries, more than 1.6 million cases were reported from 27 European countries between 1999 and 2008, according to the scientists. Worldwide, around 16 million people a year suffer from Thypus, 500,000 people die as a result of the infection, with Salmonella Typhi as the cause of the disease, according to the WHO.

Increased spread of resistant Salmonella
However, the previous Salmonella strains could generally be treated relatively well with antibiotics, so that the health risks for those affected remained quite manageable if the medication was started in good time. However, Simon Le Hello of the Pasteur Institute and colleagues have discovered a salmonella strain that is resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotic ciprofloxacin from the fluoroquinolone class. The discovered Salmonella Kentucky have spread in the past decade in parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the researchers report. The number of annually recorded infections with the novel Salmonella strain has increased continuously. While only three cases were registered in these European countries in 2002, 174 were already in 2008, according to Le Hello and colleagues. The French researchers write that the pathogens originally came from East Africa and spread from here. However, about ten percent of the European patients examined did not travel prior to their illness, which was indicative of contagion within Europe. According to the scientists, infections caused by imported foods are not uncommon.

Resistant pathogens are not uncommon
The development of resistance to antibiotics, as is currently the case with salmonella, is by no means uncommon today. The careless handling of antibiotics and the corresponding frequent contact of the pathogens with the drugs, could in the long run have the effect that the antibiotics in the treatment of diseases lose their effectiveness, the experts fear. Among the most widespread multidrug-resistant pathogens are the known as hospital germs MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) from the genus of staphylococci. Overall, however, have already developed a variety of bacteria such as gonorrhea, plague or tuberculosis pathogen resistance to antibiotics. Now the French researchers have again expanded the spectrum of antibiotic-resistant pathogens with the discovered Salmonella Kentucky. (Fp)

Also read:
Hospital germs: Staphylococci prefer blood
Risk of infection in the hospital
Resistant bacteria in German hospitals

Image: Sebastian Karkus