The doctor's alarm about the bacterial clone

 

The Public Health Authority
The variant spreads: “Alarmingly fast”

Knut Sahlin Ekberg

Updated 10.20 | Published 06.22

 
Quick version

• A new multi-resistant clone of the bacterium E coli is spreading rapidly and antibiotics have no effect on it, which worries experts.
• The bacterium can lead to serious infections such as urinary tract infection and blood poisoning, especially in people with impaired health.
• The bacterium is primarily spread through poor hand hygiene, making it critical to maintain good hand hygiene to prevent spread.

There is no cure for the aggressive bacteria - and it spreads quickly.

Now the expert flags the alarming development.

- We do not want this to gain further traction and become a dominant bacteria. That would be very bad, says Anders Sönnerborg at the Karolinska Institutet.

            

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"Worrying rapid spread".

This is how the Så beskriver Public Health Agency describes the relatively new variant of the bacterium E coli. The multi-resistant clone shows an already negative development in medicine – antibiotics have no effect on it.

In 2014, the variant was noted for the first time in Sweden. Until 2024, it has almost tripled. Although the total number is not very high, 350 cases this year, experts describe it as worrying.

- It is a serious situation for those affected by this bacterium. It is no more contagious than other bacteria, but for those who are affected and become ill, it is very serious.

             

           

            E coli colonies on agar agar.

            1 / 2Photo: Nandani Bridglal / Getty Images

"The infection is getting more serious"

That's what Anders Sönnerborg, professor and senior physician at Karolinska Institutet, says. The development is also not entirely unexpected. It has been known for a long time that more and more bacteria are building a defense against antibiotics. This also applies to the modern variants of the medicine.

- The symptom picture is no different from ordinary E coli, and not the degree of severity in itself. The problem is that the antibiotics don't work. This makes the infection more serious, he says.

State epidemiologist Magnus Gisslén flags that serious infections can be difficult to treat. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

Magnus Gisslén, urban epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency and professor at Sahlgrenska Academy, agrees with Sönnerborg's description.

- In the case of serious infections, it can become problematic if the antibiotics that are usually used no longer work. But the risk in the long term is that we stand there without treatment options. Without antibiotics, modern healthcare is not possible, he says and continues:

- This is something that requires you to work hard to counteract and slow down. And that antibiotics are used rationally.

The Public Health Agency describes the rate of spread of the multi-resistant bacteria as "worrying". Photo: Amir Nabizadeh/TT

May lead to sepsis

All people carry E coli naturally in their intestinal flora. Problems arise when it crawls outside the intestine "where it doesn't belong".

It usually leads to urinary tract infection - but also blood poisoning, sepsis.

- Anyone can become a carrier. Those who are at risk of problems are people with a reduced general condition, if for example you have a catheter or prostate problems, says Anders Sönnerborg from KI.

The European Infection Protection Agency has studied the presence of the multi-resistant bacterial strain. Archive image. Photo: Cornelius Poppe/NTB/TT

The bacteria is spread by the "faecal-oral route" - i.e. bottom to mouth. Most often it happens via fingers. It can also be spread through food and water. To stay healthy, one thing above all is important: Good hand hygiene.

- It's a and o, says Anders Sönnerborg.

E coli can lead to urinary tract infection but also blood poisoning, sepsis. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB

For those affected, treatment is difficult. Precisely because antibiotics have no effect. But when the bacterium is located, it is mapped out which antibiotic could possibly work, and then it is tested.

- But it is a problem and a careful assessment is required.
 

Is there cause for concern?

- Not for common people. But there is every reason to be fully aware of this. We don't want this to take hold and become a dominant bacteria. That would be very bad.

FACTS

Bacterial clones

• A so-called high-risk clone is a variant of a bacterium that has developed resistance to most forms of antibiotics called carbapenems, which are often the only treatment available for infections with this particular clone.
• Carbapenems are mainly used to treat infections in seriously ill patients and infections caused by bacteria resistant to first-line therapy.
•  In healthcare, a lack of hygiene with contaminated hands and clothes can spread infection from one patient to the next. Poorly cleaned equipment and overcrowding in hospitals can also contribute to the spread.
  
•  High-risk clones are an important explanation for the spread of resistance in society.
  

Source: Public Health Agency