Antibiotic Resistance to Ciprofloxacin
There is a new report on antibiotic resistance to ciprofloxacin which is prescribed to patients who have been infected with the Salmonella or E. coli bacteria. The report was conducted by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) along with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and concludes that bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter are becoming invulnerable to one of the most common antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin, or just “Cipro,” is the medication most often used to treat these bacterial infections.
The report highlights specific data on the rise of ciprofloxacin resistance in treatment for certain strains of Salmonella infection. In 2016, 1.7% of patients presented with the antibiotic resistance rising to 4.6% in 2018. Campylobacter bacterial infections reports also show that 16 out of 19 European countries noted “very high or extremely high percentages of ciprofloxacin resistance.”
In the study, antibiotic resistance to the drug ciprofloxacin appears with patients infected with Salmonella or E. coli bacteria from contaminated poultry. Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic that is classified as a fluoroquinolones, which means it is among the approved medications that are used to treat certain bacterial infections – salmonellosis is one of those conditions. Ciprofloxacin is also the first line of defense in treatment, which causes concern on how the increasing resistance will impact the health of the infected persons as their condition progresses. On the positive side, also according to the report, antibiotics that are classified as carbapenems, or last-line defense antibiotics, are showing only small, occasional cases of resistance with treatment in Salmonella infections.
Mike Catchpole, ECDC’s chief scientist, said, “Finding carbapenem resistance in foodborne bacteria in the EU is a concern. The most effective way to prevent the spread of carbapenem-resistant strains is to continue screening and responding promptly to positive detections. ECDC is working with EU Member States and with EFSA in a One Health approach to enhance the early detection and monitoring, in an effort to fight the persisting threat of antimicrobial-resistant zoonotic infections.”
Resistance to antibiotics is not just a concern in Europe, it is a matter of concern world-wide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued similar data throughout the years. The WHO has researched the many options of antibiotic drugs offered for treatment in these cases, and the few of these antibiotics fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria. WHO also notes that the larger drug companies have begun to avoid manufacturing new antibiotic medications, leaving a gap in development of new antibiotics.
“Never has the threat of antimicrobial resistance been more immediate and the need for solutions more urgent,” says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO.
