Emerging superbugs: The threat of Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae

Abstract

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to carbapenems, a group of antibiotics considered as the last-resource for the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. CRE constitutes a major threat to health care systems because infections caused by these pathogens are difficult to treat and are commonly associated with high mortality due to the limited availability of effective antibiotics. While infection prevention and timely detection are of vital importance to control CRE infections, developing new and effective anti-CRE therapies is also crucial. Accumulating evidence indicates that gut microbiota alteration (dysbiosis) is associated with an increased intestinal colonization with CRE and consequently with higher risk of developing CRE infections. Importantly, therapeutic interventions aimed to modify the gut microbiota composition via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) have been explored in various clinical settings with some of them showing promising results, although larger clinical trials are needed to confirm the efficacy of this strategy. Here, we highlight the challenges associated with the emergence of CRE infections.

Keywords

• multidrug-resistant bacteria
• carbapenem
• super bugs
• opportunistic infections
• carbapenem-resistant <i>enterobacteriaceae</i>