Around half of the patients admitted to hospital in Vietnam are carriers of multiresistant intestinal bacteria, according to a new study.

A study by Swedish and Vietnamese scientists led by Linköping University and published in the Journal of Infection show a high prevalence of multiresistant intestinal bacteria in Vietnamese hospitals.

“In our study, we see a high prevalence of multiresistant intestinal bacteria in Vietnamese hospitals. The longer the patients are in hospital, the greater is the risk that they have been infected by intestinal bacteria resistant to carbapenems”,

– Håkan Hanberger, a professor in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine at Linköping University and consultant in the Infection Clinic at Linköping University Hospital.

The study reported in the Journal of Infection included more than 2,200 patients admitted to 63 different wards at 12 hospitals in various parts of Vietnam.

The researchers conclude that there is an epidemic spread of multiresistant intestinal bacteria in Vietnamese hospitals with rapid transmission to hospitalized patients.

“The extensive spread of carbapenem-resistant intestinal bacteria means that forceful measures must be taken to reduce the transmission of infection in hospitals, by improvements to hand hygiene, the use of sterile working methods during surgery and when handling venous catheters, and by isolating patients who have been affected by multiresistant intestinal bacteria. It is also important to have effective follow up when patients are discharged from hospital, in order to reduce the spread of these bacteria in the population. But even if we do everything right, it will take a long time to get infections down to an acceptably low level”,

– Håkan Hanberger.

The reserachers note that measures such as improvement in hand hygiene, use of sterile working methods and isolating patients infected with such bacteria must be taken to reduce the transmission.

Reference:

Dien M.Tran, et al. 2019. High prevalence of colonization with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae among patients admitted to Vietnamese hospitals: Risk factors and burden of disease. Journal of Infection,Doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2019.05.013