The need for surveillance for antimicrobial resistance

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Current collection of bacterial susceptibility data is incomplete, leading to a skewed perception of antimicrobial resistance.
• Media reports often sensationalize the prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, which affect a small patient proportion.
• Existing quantitative data on bacterial resistance epidemiology often comes from non-representative hospital populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the lack of comprehensive bacterial susceptibility data.
• To counter the exaggerated perception of widespread antimicrobial resistance.
• To propose a standardized method for collecting and disseminating resistance data.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of existing literature on bacterial resistance epidemiology.
• Identification of common bacterial species constituting a significant proportion of isolates.
• Proposal for systematic reporting of susceptibility data by medical microbiology laboratories.

Main Results:

• The perception of extensive bacterial resistance is not fully supported by quantitative epidemiological data.
• Multidrug-resistant bacteria impact a very small percentage of patients.
• Most antibiotic agents remain effective for the majority of infections.

Conclusions:

• The widespread perception of extensive antimicrobial resistance is largely inaccurate.
• Standardized, yearly publication of susceptibility data for common bacterial species is recommended.
• Such data collection would provide a more accurate picture of bacterial resistance trends.