Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae: Laboratory Detection and Infection Control Practices

Over the past decade, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) have become one of the most challenging problems in infectious diseases. Fast and accurate detection of carbapenem resistance is crucial for guiding the treatment of the individual patient as well as for instituting proper infection control measures to limit the spread of the organism. Currently there are no consensus recommendations for screening, detection and confirmation of CRE either on the clinical or the laboratory side. In infection control, data from controlled intervention studies is largely missing and most recommendations have been deduced from outbreak situations. From the available limited evidence, infection control guidelines have been developed in most countries at national, regional and hospital levels. The aim of this review is to summarize the currently available laboratory methods and infection control options.