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US CDC report on antibiotic resistance threats in the United States, 2013

ECDC comment

​​Antimicrobial resistance represent a serious threat to public health and patient safety and is a worldwide problem. Each year, in the European Union (EU) at least 25 000 patients die of infections with multidrug-resistant bacteria. To raise awareness of the threat posed by antibiotic resistance and encourage immediate action, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on antibiotic resistance threats in the US.

​Antimicrobial resistance represent a serious threat to public health and patient safety and is a worldwide problem. Each year, in the European Union (EU) at least 25 000 patients die of infections with multidrug-resistant bacteria.  

To raise awareness of the threat posed by antibiotic resistance and encourage immediate action, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on antibiotic resistance threats in the US. This report is made of three parts:

 

  • Part 1 describes the context and provides an overview of antimicrobial resistance in the U.S.;
  • Part 2 describes the four core actions to fight antibiotic resistance: 1- preventing infections and the spread of resistance, 2- tracking resistance patterns, 3- antibiotic stewardship: improving prescribing and improving use, and 4- developing new antibiotics and diagnostic tests;
  • Part 3 provides a summary for each resistant bacterium considered as a threat for the U.S. and further describes antibiotic resistance, the burden of disease and actions to fight the spread of resistance.

This report is aimed at a wide audience including health professionals, and policy makers, as well as the general public.

Read the report: US CDC report on antibiotic resistance threats in the United States, 2013

ECDC comment, 17 September 2013:

The CDC report on antibiotic resistance threats in the U.S., 2013, provides a comprehensive overview of the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance in the U.S.

For the first time, CDC classified the threats caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria into three categories (urgent, serious and concerning) accordingly to their priority. Three resistant bacteria were considered as urgent threats: carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), Clostridium difficile and drug-resistant Neisseria gornorrhoeae.

These resistant bacteria are also identified as threats in Europe and are the focus of three ECDC projects:

  • The European Survey on Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE) project that aims at improving the understanding of the epidemiology of carbapenemase-producing bacteria in Europe, building laboratory capacity for diagnosis and surveillance at the national and European level, and developing a laboratory-based network in EU/European Economic Area (EEA) Member States as well as EU enlargement countries;
  • The European Clostridium difficile infections surveillance network (ECDIS-Net) project to support capacity building for surveillance of Clostridium difficile infections in the EU/EEA;
  • The European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (Euro-GASP) to build capacity for the surveillance of antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the EU/EEA.

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