Drug-resistant bugs claim 33,000 lives a year in Europe

Drug-resistant bacteria claim an estimated 33,000 lives in Europe each year, a study said Tuesday, highlighting the need for greater awareness among health workers and politicians.

The deaths were "a direct consequence of an infection due to bacteria resistant to antibiotics," according to the findings published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.

The cumulative burden was on par with that of "influenza, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined" in the European Union's 28 member countries and European Economic Area members Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, the study said.

The European Commission is taking "ambitious" measures against microbial resistance, a spokeswoman said in response to the study, noting that had experts most recently discussed the issue at talks on October 27.

Infants up to 1 year old and people older than 65 were the most vulnerable groups, the study showed.

The greatest burden of infections due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria was reported in Italy and Greece.

A sizeable portion of antibiotic-resistant diseases, 75 per cent, were attributed to infections patients picked up while receiving treatment in hospital or health clinics for medical conditions or surgery.

Another disturbing trend was that since 2007, almost four in 10 infections were caused by bacteria resistant to so-called last-line antibiotics, including carbapenems and colistin.

Measures suggested to tackle the issue include enforcing better hand hygiene, isolating patients or carriers of multidrug-resistant bacteria and preventing the overuse of antibiotics.

Data from 2015 was used in the study. It was produced by experts at the Solna, Sweden-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Burden of AMR Collaborative Group.