The new European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) website is a more dynamic and easy-to-access hub for resources to raise awareness about prudent use of antibiotics and about antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistance is a threat to public health. It compromises the treatment of infected patients, in particular that of the most severely ill patients. Increasingly, intensive care physicians in Europe are confronted with infections caused by bacteria for which limited or no adequate treatment options are available.
Today, the European Commission has adopted a new action plan against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The action plan takes a One Health approach and addresses AMR in bacteria from humans, animals and in the environment.
On 21 May, Public Health England (PHE) reported that a retrospective investigation identified 13 patients with endocarditis, surgical site infection or disseminated infection with Mycobacterium chimaera or other Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) species within four years of surgery involving cardiopulmorary bypass.
The findings in the latest report on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria from ECDC and EFSA underline the serious threat AMR poses to public and animal health. Infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobials lead to about 25 000 deaths in the EU every year.
The global rise of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) is alarming and is an increasing threat to patient safety, in Europe and globally.
This year the WHO-lead initiative focuses on healthcare workers and the essential role they play in raising awareness about antibiotic resistance and making sure that antibiotics will also be effective in the future.