Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/09/antimicrobial-resistance-scan-sep-22-2016
Antimicrobial Resistance Scan for Sep 22, 2016
New AMR 'conscience' alliance; Campylobacter resistance
Filed Under:
Antimicrobial Stewardship; Campylobacter
[h=3]Alliance forms to ensure accountability in AMR fight[/h] A collection of public health and infectious disease groups are banding together to ensure that the United Nations (UN), national governments, and other international bodies live up to their promise to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The overarching aim of the Conscience of Antimicrobial Resistance Action (CARA) will be to hold the UN?including its subsidiary organizations, the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)?accountable for ensuring that countries live up to their commitments to create national action plans to reduce AMR. Those action plans are one of the key features of a political declaration on AMR that was adopted by UN member states yesterday.
In a press release, the alliance said its goals would include improving the surveillance of antibiotic use and resistance; helping define "appropriate antimicrobial use" and using this definition to guide stewardship efforts; ensuring universal access to antibiotics, especially in low-income countries; reinforcing judicious use of antimicrobials in agriculture; and supporting the development of new antimicrobials, diagnostic tests, and vaccines. CARA said it also plans to adopt clear, quantitative targets for meeting those goals and reporting on progress.
The nine founding members of the alliance are the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, the Center for Global Development, the German Center for Infection Research, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the World Alliance Against Antibiotic Resistance, and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (publisher of CIDRAP News) at the University of Minnesota. The group plans to add partners from other sectors and countries.
Sep 20 CARA press release
[h=3]Powerful new resistance mechanism found in Campylobacter[/h] Researchers in China have identified the emergence of a new mechanism that enhances resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics in Campylobacter bacteria.
The new mechanism is a variant of CmeABC, an efflux pump that confers multidrug resistance in Campylobacter. Efflux pumps are considered an important mechanism for antibiotic resistance; they help protect bacterial organisms by pushing antimicrobials and other toxins out of cells.
In the study, published this week in mBio, researchers characterized the variant?which they've coined RE-CmeABC?as a "super" efflux pump that is much more potent. It desensitizes Campylobacter to multiple classes of antibiotics, and it confers high levels of resistance to fluoroquinolones, which are the primary class of antibiotic used in Campylobacter infections. It also promotes the emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants under selection pressure.
The researchers said RE-CmeABC is especially prevalent in C jejuni and is emergent in chickens and pigs in China, the likely result of extensive use of antimicrobials in Chinese agriculture. In addition, their analysis found that RE-CmeABC can spread to other types of bacteria through horizontal gene transfer. They concluded that it will probably continue to spread in clinical isolates.
"Thus, enhanced efforts are needed to prevent its further dissemination," they wrote.
Campylobacter bacteria, particularly C jejuni, are the most common cause of diarrheal illness in humans. Infections usually result from consuming undercooked or contaminated poultry, unpasteurized milk, or contaminated water. Drug-resistant Campylobacter is listed as a serious antibiotic resistance threat by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sep 20 mBio study
Antimicrobial Resistance Scan for Sep 22, 2016
New AMR 'conscience' alliance; Campylobacter resistance
Filed Under:
Antimicrobial Stewardship; Campylobacter
[h=3]Alliance forms to ensure accountability in AMR fight[/h] A collection of public health and infectious disease groups are banding together to ensure that the United Nations (UN), national governments, and other international bodies live up to their promise to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The overarching aim of the Conscience of Antimicrobial Resistance Action (CARA) will be to hold the UN?including its subsidiary organizations, the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)?accountable for ensuring that countries live up to their commitments to create national action plans to reduce AMR. Those action plans are one of the key features of a political declaration on AMR that was adopted by UN member states yesterday.
In a press release, the alliance said its goals would include improving the surveillance of antibiotic use and resistance; helping define "appropriate antimicrobial use" and using this definition to guide stewardship efforts; ensuring universal access to antibiotics, especially in low-income countries; reinforcing judicious use of antimicrobials in agriculture; and supporting the development of new antimicrobials, diagnostic tests, and vaccines. CARA said it also plans to adopt clear, quantitative targets for meeting those goals and reporting on progress.
The nine founding members of the alliance are the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, the Center for Global Development, the German Center for Infection Research, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the World Alliance Against Antibiotic Resistance, and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (publisher of CIDRAP News) at the University of Minnesota. The group plans to add partners from other sectors and countries.
Sep 20 CARA press release
[h=3]Powerful new resistance mechanism found in Campylobacter[/h] Researchers in China have identified the emergence of a new mechanism that enhances resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics in Campylobacter bacteria.
The new mechanism is a variant of CmeABC, an efflux pump that confers multidrug resistance in Campylobacter. Efflux pumps are considered an important mechanism for antibiotic resistance; they help protect bacterial organisms by pushing antimicrobials and other toxins out of cells.
In the study, published this week in mBio, researchers characterized the variant?which they've coined RE-CmeABC?as a "super" efflux pump that is much more potent. It desensitizes Campylobacter to multiple classes of antibiotics, and it confers high levels of resistance to fluoroquinolones, which are the primary class of antibiotic used in Campylobacter infections. It also promotes the emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants under selection pressure.
The researchers said RE-CmeABC is especially prevalent in C jejuni and is emergent in chickens and pigs in China, the likely result of extensive use of antimicrobials in Chinese agriculture. In addition, their analysis found that RE-CmeABC can spread to other types of bacteria through horizontal gene transfer. They concluded that it will probably continue to spread in clinical isolates.
"Thus, enhanced efforts are needed to prevent its further dissemination," they wrote.
Campylobacter bacteria, particularly C jejuni, are the most common cause of diarrheal illness in humans. Infections usually result from consuming undercooked or contaminated poultry, unpasteurized milk, or contaminated water. Drug-resistant Campylobacter is listed as a serious antibiotic resistance threat by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sep 20 mBio study