A study, published in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, examined the risks for subsequent multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria infection among hospitalized patients with multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria colonization.
Researchers conducted an observational study 817 patients hospitalized in 2009. They defined MDRGNB as a gram-negative bacteria resistant to at least three different antimicrobial classes. Patients were classified into MDRGNB culture-positive (125 patients) and culture-negative (692 patients) groups. They recorded subsequent MDRGNB infection and mortality within 12 months of index hospitalization.
In all, 129 patients had at least one subsequent MDRGNB infection; 48 percent in the MDRGNB culture-positive group and 10 percent in the MDRGNB culture-negative group.
Of the total number of patients, 148 died, 31.2 percent in the MDRGNB culture-positive group and 15.9 percent in the MDRGNB culture-negative group.
Additionally, researchers found patients with Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa had the highest hazard risk for developing subsequent infection.
"Harboring MDRGNB significantly increases patients' risk for subsequent MDRGNB infection and mortality after hospitalization, justifying the urgent need for developing effective strategies to prevent and eradicate MDRGNB colonization," study authors concluded.
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