Anti-Infectives

Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacterales

Infections due to drug-resistant bacteria have increased over years, becoming a Gram negative resistant bacteria, the WHO considers Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) to be one of the most severe type of infection with a critical level of urgency.

Indeed, CRE infections represent a huge burden in terms of patients’ lives and use of healthcare resources with a very high mortality rate, up to 75%.

CRE infections are difficult to treat since they are resistant to the beta-lactam antibiotic class, which include carbapenems, last resort antibiotics commonly used against resistant infections. Furthermore, these pathogens often contain multiple mechanisms of resistance against other classes of antibiotics, resulting in multidrug-resistant organisms with few effective therapeutic options.

Carbapenemase enzymes have a global distribution, but substantial variability exists at continental, regional, and even hospital-to-hospital levels. Among the different carbapenemase enzymes, the KPC family have the most extensive global distribution and are endemic in some Countries like Italy and Greece.

Awareness on the presence of specific resistance mechanisms, including carbapenem resistance, is crucial in preventing their spread and selecting appropriate treatments.