Published on
Drug-resistant superbugs are a growing health threat across Europe, and they could “reverse years of medical progress,” health authorities warned in a new report.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when pathogens such as bacteria or viruses evolve to the point where they can evade existing drugs, making infections harder to treat and procedures such as organ transplants and cancer treatments riskier.
AMR causes more than 35,000 deaths every year in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, according to estimates from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) released on Tuesday.
A handful of factors have created a “perfect storm” for AMR, the agency said: Europe’s ageing population is more vulnerable to infections, drug-resistant pathogens are spreading across borders, doctors and patients are overusing antibiotic medicines, and there are critical gaps in infection prevention and control efforts.
“We must ensure that no one in Europe is left without an effective treatment option,” said Dr Diamantis Plachouras, who leads the ECDC’s work on AMR and health care-associated infections.
In 2023, the EU Council set five targets for member states: curbing antibiotic use, ensuring at least 65 per cent of antibiotics used are first-line treatments, and reducing the number of new bloodstream infections from three types of drug-resistant bacteria.
Yet Europe has only met one of these goals so far, according to the report. Compared to the 2019 baseline, new bloodstream infections from meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are down by 20.4 per cent, exceeding the 15 per cent target.
The bloc does not fare as well on other measures. Since 2019, new bloodstream infections caused by another of these bacteria – carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae – have surged by more than 60 per cent, the report found, despite the target reduction of 5 per cent, the ECDC said.
Meanwhile, infections caused by a highly resistant strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) have risen by more than 5 per cent, despite a target reduction of 10 per cent.
Europeans are also taking more antibiotics than in the past – and many of these are drugs that officials say should only be used as a last resort if first-line medicines aren’t effective.
At the same time, there are few new antibiotics on the horizon to fight high-priority bacteria such as carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria (CR-GNB), the ECDC said.
ECDC Director Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner said Europe needs to invest more in promoting responsible antibiotic use, controlling infections, and developing new antibiotics.
“Tackling AMR requires critical innovation,” she said in a statement.