Carbapenem-resistant E. coli and Klebsiella spp.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae represent a serious therapeutic threat due to their high multi-resistance. Although their rapid spread has been observed worldwide, according to the data currently available in Switzerland, these infectious agents are still rare. Therefore, from spring 2011, anresis.ch has intensified monitoring of diagnosed cases of resistant E. coli and Klebsiella spp. Two partially overlapping systems are used for this purpose.

1. anresis.ch data: This system is based on a monthly query of the anresis.ch database for E. coli and Klebsiella spp. resistant to a carbapenem (imipenem, meropenem, ertapenem or doripenem).
2. Confirmed cases: Testing carbapenem resistance presents technical difficulties and should therefore be verified by resistance confirmation tests. In addition description of the resistance mechanism (e.g. OXA-48, KPC, NDM-1 etc….) is essential to understand the epidemiological spread of these multiresistant microorganisms. Therefor a network of Swiss expert laboratories was setup in 2013. In future Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae should be sent to one of these expert laboratories, which will perform genetic testing and send the results directly to anresis.ch.

The following table summarizes the number of carbapenem-resistant E. coli and Klebsiella spp. identified during the year. For technical reasons, the canton, where the diagnosis has been made, does not necessarily correspond to that of the patient's residence. In any case, only a strain isolated per patient per year is taken into account. The first of the two numbers corresponds to the anresis.ch data, the second number reflects confirmed cases.

Data of each year are summarized below in a table or graph.