New multi-resistant germs have been discovered in Germany.
These are even said to put an antibiotic out of action, which was considered a bearer of hope.
Kassel - hospital germs such as enterobacteria are feared because they can cause serious infections.
As the germs become increasingly resistant to the antibiotic active ingredients
(
carbapenems), which actually represent the crucial reserve for emergencies, the risk of infection increases.
A new combination of two antimicrobial substances was seen as a beacon of hope - but a study at the Justus Liebig University (JLU) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) destroyed this hope: Even before the drugs were used in Germany, scientists were able to Scientists find bacteria that this new combination can no longer harm.
Multi-resistant germs in Germany as a danger: researchers see a threatening circumstance
As early as 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of the twelve most dangerous, multi-resistant germs worldwide for which new active ingredients are urgently needed.
In the top priority class there are already mentioned pathogens which are classified as high risk and which could now also be detected in Germany in a similar form.
This is a threatening circumstance for researchers.
Multi-resistant germs are considered to be particularly dangerous and therefore urgently need to be combated:
Acinetobacter baumannii
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Enterobacteriaceae
They are all resistant to carbapenem antibiotics, as is the new multi-resistant germ that was discovered by researchers in Germany.
What is particularly alarming for researchers is the fact that the new multi-resistant germs can already override a drug that has just been developed and is still being tested in clinical studies.
Video: Germs, bacteria and viruses - that's the difference
WHO worried: Bacteria are already resistant to new drugs
"Aztreonam-avibactam is a combination of an older antibiotic, aztreonam, with a newer inhibitor, avibactam, which can neutralize the effectiveness of the resistance to carbapenems and thus make the bacteria vulnerable again," explains Can Imirzalioglu from the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) .
Bacteria that are already resistant to it could be detected in samples that were examined by German scientists.
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If this resistance spreads among the pathogens before the promising antibiotic can be made freely available in Germany, bacterial infections could then no longer be combated with this agent, the researchers share their study results.
In Europe, 33,000 people die every year from multi-resistant germs.
Many bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics.
A university clinic professor in Göttingen is of the opinion that the solution against multi-resistant germs * is a puzzle made up of many ever-increasing pieces.
(Helena Gries)
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