Experience of European Intensive Care Physicians with Infections Due to Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria, 2009

A survey was performed among European intensive care physicians to obtain information about their perception and experience with selected antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Seventy-eight out of 95 (82%) participants considered having to deal with infections due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the intensive care unit where they work was a major or significant problem. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae were the most frequently reported antibiotic-resistant bacteria with 69 (73%) and 67 (71%) participants reporting having treated at least one patient with such an infection during the preceding six months, respectively. Antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, were more frequently reported than any selected antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive bacteria, with the exception of MRSA. Fifty (53%) participants declared having treated at least one patient infected with a bacterium totally or almost totally resistant to available antibiotics during the past six months, with 8 participants having treated more than 10 such patients and 13 having treated from 3 to 10 such patients.