Each year, numerous casualties are reported due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria - Annual fatalities due to antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), based in Berlin, has published a study on antibiotic-resistant infections in Germany, highlighting the urgent need for stronger prevention measures and careful antibiotic use. The study, which was also supported by the University of Washington, was published in the scientific journal "Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy - Antimicrobial Resistance."
According to the study, a total of 939,500 people died in Germany in 2019. Of these, around 9,600 deaths were directly due to the resistance of the infection, with an estimated 45,700 deaths in total related to antibiotic-resistant infections.
Bloodstream infections, respiratory infections, and abdominal infections were particularly frequent causes of death. The RKI emphasizes that inappropriate antibiotic use, such as without a valid reason, for too long, or inappropriately, promotes the emergence and spread of resistant pathogens.
Antibiotic resistances are one of the greatest challenges for global health today, with the problem increasing worldwide. The RKI recommends prudent antibiotic stewardship, infection prevention, and robust surveillance as key strategies to curb resistance transmission.
Strengthening prevention strategies to reduce infections that require antibiotic treatment, promoting prudent, targeted use of antibiotics in clinical practice, enhancing surveillance and monitoring of antibiotic resistance patterns, and implementing national action plans like Germany’s DART (started in 2008), coordinated by the RKI, are all crucial elements of this approach.
The RKI stresses that antibiotic-resistant pathogens pose a significant health threat in Germany. Not all deaths were directly caused by antibiotic resistance, but if the affected individuals had been infected with the same pathogen without resistance, they would likely have survived.
Therefore, Germany needs to strengthen prevention and targeted control measures to contain the spread of resistant pathogens. The RKI's guidance aims to reduce both the emergence of resistant strains and their spread in healthcare and community settings.
[1] Robert Koch Institute. (2021). Antibiotic-resistant infections in Germany: Situation 2019. Retrieved from https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuere_krankheiten/Antibiotikaresistenzen/Antibiotikaresistenzen_in_Deutschland/Aktuell/Aktuelles/Antibiotikaresistenzen_in_Deutschland_2019_Situation.html [4] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. (2020). Antibiotic resistance: The European Union and the European Economic Area. Retrieved from https://ecdc.europa.eu/en/antimicrobial-resistance/what-antimicrobial-resistance/antibiotic-resistance-european-union-and-european-economic-area
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