“Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Contaminates Hospital Intensive Care Unit: Study in The Lancet”

Hospital intensive care units are often the most vulnerable patients. Although it might seem like a clean and safe place with virtually no risk of infection, a new study published on Monday, May 8 in the professional journal The Lancetfound that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can also get here, reports the website StudyFinds.

Scientists discovered that the intensive care unit of a hospital in the Chinese city of Hangzhou was contaminated with a virulent strain that infected every third patient. Specifically, it was a multi-resistant gram-negative strain of the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii, which occurs in the hospital environment. This bacterium has occasionally been found in environmental soil and water samples, however its natural habitat is still unknown.

Infested ICU

For a healthy person, this bacterium poses almost no health risk, however, in weakened or old individuals, it can cause pneumonia, sepsis and inflammation. It is colloquially referred to as “Iraqibacter” due to its seemingly sudden appearance in military medical facilities during the Iraq War. It spread to civilian hospitals as a result of transporting infected soldiers through multiple facilities.

According to findings so far, the bacterium reached the intensive care unit in China during the admission of several patients. A scientific team from the United Kingdom explains that spread by air flow, transfer via personnel, equipment and plumbing.

According to study co-author Professor Alan McNally from the University of Birmingham, this bacteria poses a great risk to hospitalized patients. It can cause serious illnesses, including pneumonia, urinary tract infections, bacteremia (a condition where bacteria circulate in the blood), meningitis (inflammation of the meninges) and soft tissue infections, which can be very difficult to treat due to multidrug resistance.

The bacteria was almost everywhere

The researchers took samples from the entire intensive care unit and discovered 35 positive patients, 14 of whom became infected during their stay. Not only patients were infected, but their beds and other hospital equipment were also contaminated. Most often, the bacterium was detected on lung ventilators and carts intended for the distribution of medicines and other medical materials in the wards and patients’ rooms.

“The amount of bacteria found in this intensive care unit highlights the urgent need for targeted infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities where such a large accumulation of bacteria is likely to stop the global spread of this pathogen.” supplies in the statement McNally.

Antibiotic resistance poses a threat to public health that legitimately worries scientists and the general public. Although patients should be confident that antibiotic treatment will work against the bacteria it was designed to fight, more and more strains are successfully resisting the drugs designed to kill them.

Precautions will be needed

Acinetobacter baumannii can remain on surfaces and equipment for extended periods of time and spread between patients within as little as 48 hours of admission. Such epidemics require large-scale changes at the infrastructure level, which can have a negative impact on clinical care, logistics functions and financial planning, according to the study authors.

The findings highlight the need for thorough and regular surface cleaningwhich are frequently touched by patients and staff, isolating positive patients, minimally moving patients between beds to slow its spread, and improving staff hand-washing protocols.

“In the absence of new therapeutic agents, effective infection control and prevention strategies are essential if we want to reduce infections and mortality caused by bacteria in hospitals. We need to thoroughly understand the persistence, transmission and evolution of bacterial populations in these environments.” concludes McNally.