‘Alarming’ drug-resistant germs spread through war-torn Ukrainian cities

Ukraine: President Zelensky visits war wounded in Kiev hospital

There is an “alarming increase” in drug-resistant germs in hospitals in Ukraine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday.

The germs are not responsive to antibiotic medications used to treat the infections, the study published by the CDC reported.

Officials are calling for this “urgent crisis” to be quickly addressed, warning that the drug-resistant germs are spreading beyond the war-torn nation.

Scientists from the CDC and Ukraine’s health ministry sampled hundreds of patients for infections received from hospitals in November and December last year, and found that about 60 percent battled germs resistant to carbapenem antibiotics.

These antibiotics are often referred to as “the last line of defense” doctors use to fight off bacteria after other options fail.

Only around 6.2 percent of samples of similar infections were resistant to the antibiotics through 2017, according to a study from Eurosurveillance.

The study’s authors wrote: “In Ukraine, the confluence of high prewar rates of antimicrobial resistance, an increase in the prevalence of traumatic wounds, and the war-related strain on health care facilities is leading to increased detection of multi-drug-resistant organisms with spread into Europe.”

Health officials in Europe warned in March 2022 that hospitals should isolate and screen patients from Ukraine for these kind of drug-resistant organisms.

In Germany, infections from drug-resistant bacteria climbed “rapidly” after March 2022 – mostly linked to refugees and evacuated patients from Ukraine.

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Drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae was especially present in Germany, while other germs did not see large jumps.

In the US, drug-resistant bacteria are estimated to make up more than 13,000 cases and 1,000 deaths each year, according to CDC data.

This is not the first time drug-resistance threats have been spotted in Ukraine.

In July, US military doctors found that a Ukrainian soldier had been infected by six different “extensively drug-resistant bacteria,” including Klebsiella pneumoniae, after suffering traumatic burns to his body.

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The doctors wrote in a report published by the CDC: “Isolates were non susceptible to most antibiotics and carried an array of antibiotic resistant genes.”

The CDC’s report has urged health officials in Ukraine to receive more training and supplies to deal with the influx of patients in hospitals during the war.

They wrote: “To address the alarming increase of antimicrobial resistance in Ukraine, UPHC with assistance from international partners, is developing locally led and implemented measures to address antimicrobial resistance and will need ongoing support to scale them nationally.”

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