Researchers found an increase of antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori bacteria, which cause gastric cancer and other gastro-related infections, according to a study published in Gastroenterology Journal.
Here are four things to know:
1. Researchers examined public databases to identify 178 studies on rates of pyloriresistance to the following antibiotics: clarithromycin, metronidazole, levofloxacin, amoxicillin, or tetracycline. The combination of studies included data on 53,583 patients and about 66,142 bacterial samples from 65 countries.
2. Researchers created estimates of primary and secondary resistance in every World Health Organization-designated regions.
3. H. pylori antibiotic resistance to clarithromycin, metronidazole and levofloxacin was 15 percent or higher across all regions except the Americas, European region and Southeast Asia region.
4. In the Americas and Southeast Asian region, pylori antibiotic resistance to clarithromycin was 10 percent. In Europe, H. pylori antibiotic resistance to levofloxacin was 11 percent.
"Resistance of H pylori to antibiotics has reached alarming levels worldwide, which [h]as a great effect on efficacy of treatment," the researchers concluded. "Local surveillance networks are required to select appropriate eradication regimens for each region."
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