Drug-Resistant Infections in Hospitals Soared During the Pandemic, C.D.C. Says

The epidemic of drug-resistant infections surged during the coronavirus pandemic, killing nearly 30,000 people in 2020, overturning many of the recent advances to contain the so-called superbug epidemic. analysis According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Federal health officials have found that deaths from infectious diseases unaffected by antibiotics and antifungals increased by 15% in the first year of the pandemic compared to 2019. Much of the increase was caused by the coronavirus confusion as doctors and nurses struggled to treat the wave of critically ill patients who did not fully understand the disease before vaccines and treatments became widely available. Was related to.

The CDC reports that about 40% of deaths are inpatients and the rest occur in nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. Early on, studies show that many front-line hospital workers mistakenly administered antibiotics for viral lung infections that did not respond to such drugs. Many of the most ill patients spend weeks or months in the intensive care unit, increasing the likelihood that drug-resistant insects will enter the body through venous lines, catheters, and ventilator tubes.

According to federal health officials, the number of deaths is much higher during a pandemic, as a flood of public health laboratories, usually tracking drug-resistant infections, creates large gaps in many data on the most dangerous pathogens. It is said that there are many.

According to the CDC, the outbreak of drug-resistant infections may have been facilitated by a national shortage of face masks, gloves and gowns. This is an important armor that helps protect healthcare professionals and limit the spread of pathogens as they move from room to room. Due to the shortage of staff and overwhelming wards in many hospitals, infection control specialists do not perform their usual duties of promoting proper use of antibiotics, hand washing, and other safety measures. The report states that it was often relocated to provide traditional patient care.

“These setbacks can be temporary and must be temporary,” said Dr. Rochelle P. Warrensky, director of the CDC, in a statement attached to the report. I mentioned in. “The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed that — prevention is preparation. We need to prepare a public health system to fight multiple threats at the same time.”

Federal authorities were particularly concerned about the increased spread of the most dangerous pathogens. They found a 78% surge in infection with the bacterium Acinetobacter, which is resistant to the antibiotic carbapenem and often spreads to patients in the intensive care unit. Candida auris increases by 60%. It is a deadly fungus that often spreads in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

This analysis highlights what public health experts have long described as a slow-moving pandemic. More than 700,000 people worldwide die each year from infections that are no longer responsive to antibiotics, and health professionals say that without collaborative efforts to reduce antibiotic abuse and develop new medicines. It warns that the death toll could reach 10 million by 2050.

Antibacterial resistance occurs when bacteria and fungi mutate and outperform drugs designed to defeat them. This evolutionary process is unavoidable, but the more these medicines are given to humans and livestock, the more likely they are to develop resistance.

Almost One-third of all antibiotics According to the CDC, it is often misprescribed for respiratory illnesses such as colds caused by the virus. This problem seems to have expanded during the pandemic. Authorities say 80% of Covid patients admitted were given antibiotics between March and October 2020.

The CDC’s findings are in stark contrast to previous reports that have shown slow but steady progress in the fight against nosocomial infections that kill 35,000 Americans and ill 2.8 million people annually. Between 2012 and 2019, drug-resistant infections decreased by 18%. Agency 2019 ReportIt has been found that improvements have led to greater investment in programs to reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics in hospitals.

The latest report confirms that many healthcare professionals and public health professionals were suspicious, based on case reports and a few previous studies.

David Hyun, head of the antibiotic resistance project at the Pew Charitable Trust, a non-governmental organization, said: “It also emphasizes the urgency that we really need to focus and reinvest in our efforts to tackle this public health issue.”