BMJ  2008;336:1266-1267 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39601.623808.4E

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Multidrug resistance responsible for half of deaths from healthcare associated infections in Europe

Rory Watson

1 Brussels

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Multidrug resistant bacteria are responsible for about half of the 37 000 deaths a year in the 27 member states of the European Union that are caused by infections associated with health care, show the preliminary results of research from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, in Stockholm.

The official findings, which will be presented later this summer, coincide with growing political and medical pressure for a reduction in the use of antibiotics in a bid to curb increases in drug resistant bacteria.

Dominique Monnet, the centre’s senior expert in its scientific advice unit, who presented the initial conclusions of the study at a seminar for journalists last week, insisted that the detrimental effects of antibiotics could even be greater.

"This is an underestimate since we are considering only the seven most common multidrug resistant bacteria and the four main types of healthcare associated infections—bloodstream infection, pneumonia, skin . . . [Full text of this article]


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