Antibiotic-resistant bacteria could pose serious health threat in Asia

The study follows the team’s previous study in a Hangzhou intensive care unit in 2019, which found that nearly a third of patients were infected with CRAB.

Recent studies show that the proportion of one strain type (GC2) among CRAB isolates has fallen from 99.5% in 2019 to 50.8% in 2021. The remaining population consisted primarily of ST164 isolates that had been evolving since mid-2020 and had twice the rate of measurable carbapenem resistance. which GC2 strains have.

Co-author Professor Alan McNally from the University of Birmingham commented:“We believe that ST164 is establishing itself in intensive care units and may be spreading widely throughout Asia. Although ST164 caused fewer infections than GC2 during the study period, its high rate of antibiotic resistance indicates the need for close monitoring.

“CRAB poses a serious risk to hospitalized patients and can cause severe illness, including pneumonia, urinary tract infection, bacteremia, meningitis and soft tissue infections. Ongoing IPC measures are vital to control the spread of these bacteria in hospitals, and further research is needed to understand how these strains develop in hospital settings.”

The study was supported by the Medical Research Council and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The study included high-resolution whole-genome sequencing and comparative analysis of CRAB isolates.

CRAB can persist for long periods of time on hospital surfaces and medical equipment and colonize patients within 48 hours of admission, facilitated by hospital personnel, shared equipment, air flows, and plumbing. CRAB outbreaks may require intervention or infrastructure changes, which impose a clinical, logistical, and financial burden.

Antibiotic-resistant infections pose a serious threat to global public health. CRAB infections occur worldwide and treatment options are extremely limited, prompting the World Health Organization to recognize CRAB as a priority organism for which new treatments are urgently needed.

Co-author Professor Willem van Schaik, from the University of Birmingham, added: “The health consequences of CRAB, particularly clone ST164, are significant and impact patient outcomes, healthcare systems and public health worldwide. In the absence of new therapeutic options, effective CRAB-IPIC strategies are vital if we are to limit the morbidity and mortality caused by bacteria in hospitals. In addition, our study illustrates the power of genomic surveillance to map the emergence and spread of this drug-resistant clone.”