A new study by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh revealed widespread colonisation with drug-resistant bacteria in Bangladesh, including alarmingly high level among newborns in neonatal intensive care units.
The study, conducted with assistance from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and The Task Force for Global Health, was revealed at a seminar titled 鈥楢ddressing antimicrobial Resistance in Bangladesh: insights from the ARCH study鈥� at the ICDDR,B auditorium on Thursday.
The Antibiotic Resistance in Communities and Hospitals was conducted in 2019 showed that extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales were highly prevalent 鈥�78 per cent in communities and 82 per cent in hospitals.
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales were more common in hospitalised patients 鈥� 37 per cent 鈥� than in communities 鈥� 9 per cent. Colistin-resistant Enterobacterales were detected in 11 per cent of community members and 7 per cent of hospital patients, while one in five participants carried methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
The second ARCH provided deeper insights into the risks faced by critical care patients and newborns.
The study found that 81 per cent of newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units were colonised with carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, a top-priority pathogen identified by the World Health Organisation.
More than half of the babies acquired CR-Kpn after staying for 48 hours in hospital, confirming high levels of hospital-acquired colonisation.
In adult ICUs, 60 per cent of patients carried CRE, with colonised patients facing a higher risk of developing infections and enduring longer hospital stays.
The study also tracked mother鈥揷hild pairs, finding that about 40 per cent of infants were colonised with CRE and nearly 90 per cent with ESCrE within their first year. Infants who stayed longer than 72 hours in hospital after delivery carried the highest burden of colonisation. By one year of age, more than 80 per cent of these babies had already received at least one course of antibiotics.
Encouragingly, the study demonstrated that improved infection prevention and control measures 鈥� such as stronger hand hygiene and better hospital cleaning 鈥� substantially reduced colonisation and bloodstream infections in NICUs.
Speaking as chief guest special assistant to the chief adviser for health Md Sayedur Rahman, described the findings as 鈥榓larming yet valuable,鈥� saying that they would help fine-tune strategies to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
ICDDR,B executive director Dr Tahmeed Ahmed warned against the misuse of antibiotics, urging restrictions on their sale without prescription, similar to the controls once imposed on sedatives.
The CDC鈥檚 acting country director Brian Wheeler said that AMR was a global challenge with complex scientific and economic implications, while other officials 鈥� including Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research director Dr Tahmina Shirin and Directorate General of Health Service additional director general Dr Sheikh Sayidul Haque 鈥� also stressed the need for stronger surveillance and rational antibiotic use.
Public health experts, clinicians, and policymakers attending the seminar called for urgent measures to protect the effectiveness of life-saving antibiotics for future generations.
