Antibiotic resistance across Europe: E. coli, MRSA and Klebsiella
Antibiotic resistance across Europe: E. coli, MRSA and Klebsiella
Resistance of bacteria to antibiotics
Escherichia coli: percentage of invasive isolates with resistance to third-generation cephalosporins
Klebsiella pneumoniae: percentage of invasive isolates with combined resistance to third-generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides
Staphylococcus aureus: percentage of invasive isolates with resistance to meticillin (MRSA)
Escherichia coli
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
E. coli is one of the most frequent causes of bloodstream infections and community- and healthcare- associated urinary tract infections worldwide. Antibiotic resistance in E. coli requires close attention as the percentage of isolates resistant to commonly-used antibiotics continues to increase throughout Europe. More than half of the isolates reported in 2016 were resistant to at least one of the antibiotic groups under surveillance. The highest resistance percentages were reported from southern and south-eastern Europe.
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common cause of urinary tract, respiratory tract and bloodstream infections. It can spread rapidly between patients in healthcare settings and is a frequent cause of hospital outbreaks. Antibiotic resistance in K. pneumoniae is a public health concern in Europe. More than one third of the K. pneumoniae isolates reported for 2016 were resistant to at least one of the antibiotic groups under surveillance, and combined resistance to multiple antibiotic groups was common. Generally higher resistance percentages were reported from the southern and south-eastern parts of Europe.
Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most frequent causes of antibiotic-resistant healthcare-associated infections worldwide. Increasing levels of community-associated MRSA are being reported from many parts of the world, including Europe. Across Europe as a whole, the MRSA percentage has decreased significantly between 2013 and 2016, but there are large inter-country variations. MRSA remains a public health priority in Europe as a number of countries reported MRSA percentages above 25%.
Developed by Dr. Cath Sleeman, quantitative research fellow at Nesta. All data come from the "Summary of the latest data on antibiotic resistance in the European Union" published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Resistance rates have been rounded to the nearest integer.