WHO number of multidrug-resistant germs is rising menacingly

Already 500,000 cases of multidrug-resistant germs have been detected

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a frightening report on the first evaluation of its new "GLASS" antimicrobial surveillance system. This report shows that the worldwide spread of antimicrobial resistance is rapidly increasing and has already hit 500,000 people in 22 different countries. "The report confirms the seriousness of antimicrobial resistance worldwide," warns. Marc Sprenger, Director of the WHO Secretariat for Antibiotic Resistance. In Germany, the resistant germs continue to spread.

For example, the National Reference Center for the Monitoring of Multidrug-Resistant Germs estimates that 15,000 patients die every year in Germany as a result of multidrug-resistant bacteria, especially in hospitals. The German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) also notes that "almost every tenth patient is colonized with multidrug-resistant bacteria when he arrives at the clinic," reports Dr. med. Axel Hamprecht in a press release of the institute. According to the WHO report, many pathogens are already partially immune. These include the causative agents of pneumonia and the coli bacterium (Escherichia coli). High and low income countries are affected by high resistance to a range of serious bacterial infections.

The WHO recently published a frightening report on the rapid increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria and called for global cooperation in the fight against the dangerous pathogens. (Image: Sebastian Kaulitzki / fotolia.com)

Multidrug-resistant pathogens know no limits

"Some of the world's most common - and potentially most dangerous - infections turn out to be drug-resistant," explains Sprenger. And most worryingly, pathogens do not respect national borders. For this reason, WHO is encouraging all countries to set up good monitoring systems to detect drug resistance and to share the data obtained for a global system. So far, only 22 countries are involved in the documentation of such germs.

One of the biggest threats to global public health

"The report is an important first step to improving our understanding of the level of antimicrobial resistance," said Sprenger. The monitoring is still in its infancy. Also Dr. Carmem Pessoa-Silva, who coordinates WHO's new surveillance system, emphasizes the importance of surveillance as it seeks to anticipate and combat one of the greatest threats to global public health.

Which bacterial strains have resistance?

According to the WHO report, the most frequently described resistant bacteria are Escherichia coli (urinary tract infections, gastroenteritis and meningitis), Klebsiella pneumoniae (which causes various forms of pneumonia), Staphylococcus aureus (including skin infections and wound infections) and Streptococcus pneumoniae ( can cause, for example, pneumonia and septicemia), followed by Salmonella spp. (Gastrointestinal infections). At present, the system does not contain data on the resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis. This should be extended in the future. However, the DZIF has already been able to demonstrate multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Germany.

Threateningly high levels of multi-drug resistance

The WHO report shows that the proportion of multidrug-resistant bacteria is enormous in some countries. In patients with suspected blood poisoning, the proportion of bacteria that were resistant to at least one of the most commonly used antibiotics was up to 82 percent. This value varies greatly from country to country and was still zero percent in some countries. Resistance to penicillin, which is commonly used to treat pneumonia, ranged from zero to 51 percent in the reporting countries. And eight to 65 percent of the colibacterium showed resistance to ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat these bacteria.

WHO helps to build a global surveillance system

According to the WHO report, the quality of data needs to be improved in some countries. Some countries face major challenges in building their national surveillance systems, including staff, financial and infrastructure shortages. WHO now wants to help more countries set up national antimicrobial resistance monitoring systems to gain more reliable and meaningful data. (Vb)