Antimicrobial resistance is making UTIs more deadly

A new study led by CSIRO has found the spread of drug-resistant bacteria in the community is increasing the risk of death for common infections such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), which affect around one in two women and one in 20 men in their lifetime.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria and other microbes become resistant to the drugs designed to kill them, generally through misuse or overuse of the drugs. Hospital-acquired resistance is well researched, but the current study, published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, is one of the few that looks at the burden of community transmission.

Researchers from CSIRO, Queensland University of Technology and The University of Queensland analysed data from 21,268 patients across 134 Queensland hospitals who acquired their infections in the community. It found patients were 2.43 times more likely to die from community-acquired drug-resistant UTIs caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 3.28 times more likely to die from community-acquired drug-resistant bloodstream infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae than those with drug-sensitive infections.

CSIRO research scientist Dr Teresa Wozniak said the high prevalence of UTIs makes them a major contributor to antibiotic use in Australia.

“Without effective antibiotics, many standard medical procedures and life-saving surgeries will become increasingly life-threatening,” Dr Wozniak said.

“Tracking the burden of drug-resistant infections in the community is critical to understanding how far antimicrobial resistance is spreading and how best to mitigate it.”

The study’s findings should provide further guidance for managing AMR in the community, such as developing AMR stewardship programs that draw on data from the population being treated. The CEO of CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre, Dr David Hansen, said the magnitude of the AMR problem needs to be understood in order to mitigate it.

“Tracking community resistance is difficult because it involves not just one pathogen or disease but multiple strains of bacteria,” Dr Hansen said.

“Until now, we haven’t been using the best data to support decision-making in our fight against AMR. Data on community-acquired resistance is a significant missing piece of the puzzle.”

CSIRO is conducting further research to understand the clinical implications of AMR, its health and economic burden, and improving surveillance of AMR in blind spots like rural and remote communities.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Maksym Yemelyanov

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