Serious, highly drug-resistant infections increasing among US children

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/pids-shd111516.php

Public Release: 17-Nov-2016
Serious, highly drug-resistant infections increasing among US children
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society

Highly drug-resistant infections are on the rise among U.S. children, reports a new study published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. Researchers found increasing rates of antibiotic resistance among samples of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an important type of bacteria, collected from pediatric patients nationwide over the last decade. The findings provide more evidence that aggressive strategies to track, prevent, and treat these concerning infections in children are greatly needed.

"Infections with P. aeruginosa can be serious and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality," said study author Latania K. Logan, MD, of Rush University Medical Center. In children, these infections can result in prolonged illness, require longer hospital stays, and, ultimately, increase the risk of death. "Highly drug-resistant P. aeruginosa infections leave health care providers with limited--or sometimes no--antibiotic choices available, and these antibiotics are less safe and more toxic in children," said study author Sumanth Gandra, MD, MPH, of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy.

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The proportion of P. aeruginosa isolates resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics rose from 15.4 percent in 1999 to 26.0 percent in 2012. The proportion of bacterial strains resistant to carbapenems, a class of antibiotics considered one of the treatments of last resort for highly resistant infections, increased from 9.4 percent in 1999 to 20.0 percent in 2012. Drug resistance was more common in pediatric patients in intensive care units, among those 13-17 years old, and in the Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and the Dakotas).

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