Antibiotic resistance is a major global public health problem and is, for a large part, driven by use of antibiotics. As a result,
patients are suffering from infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, sometime to multiple antibiotics.
Resistance in bacteria commonly responsible for infections such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli has been
increasing Europe-wide for all antibiotic classes under surveillance. Single and combined resistance to several antibiotics (multidrug resistance) are increasing in these bacteria.
The percentage of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae is increasing in the European Union and these resistant bacteria
are now spreading to several European countries. Transfer of patients across borders poses a clear risk for the transmission of
carbapenem-resistant bacteria, especially when patients are transferred from areas with high rates of such bacteria to
healthcare facilities in another country or have received medical care abroad in areas with high rates of carbapenem-resistant
bacteria.
Carbapenems are the major last-line class of antibiotics to treat infections with multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria such
as K. pneumoniae and E. coli. Resistance to carbapenems limits available options for treatment of infected patients to only few
antibiotics, which often are old antibiotics that were developed several decades ago and often have limitations and side-effects.
The occurrence of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) shows a decrease in some European countries. However,
one fourth of countries are still reporting that of all Staphylococcus aureus invasive infections, more than 25% are MRSA.
