[Increasing therapeutic challenges through multi-resistant bacteria in the hospital].

BACKGROUND

Multi-resistant bacteria endanger with increasing frequency the successful outcome of antibiotic therapy, which represents the presumably most successful discovery of medicine. Due to a worldwide misuse of antibiotics and combined with a lacking awareness of hospital hygiene, multi-resistant bacteria spread with a worrisome pace within the clinic. These bacteria also spread globally via modern transportation systems. Today bacteria are present in hospitals, which are sensitive to a rather limited number of antibiotics or even -worse are pan-resistant. The growing threat of multi-resistant bacteria is further increased by the fact that the pipeline of the pharmaceutical industry for new antibiotics is more or less empty. Furthermore, economical pressure will increase the workload for hospital employees and by that support the spread of -multi-resistant bacteria. In addition, patients will be more susceptible to infections since on the one hand they are on average of older age and on the other hand treated with more aggressive surgical or immuno-suppressive regimens.

CONCLUSION

This threatening but realistic future scenario can only be avoided by a combination of measures: absolute justified application of antibiotics, a consequent use of standard hygiene, -isolation of contaminated or infected patients and sufficient employees and their education in the prevention of infections.