Abstract
The rising threat of antibiotic resistance in Europe and beyond is of increasing concern and is prompting renewed effort to better understand and mitigate their impact. Escherichia Coli blood stream infections are a more major concern in Europe given their incidence and severe associated outcomes. Additionally the level of 3rd generation cephalosporins and carbapenems resistance among those bacteraemias has significantly increased, limiting available treatment options. We estimated the current burden associated with E. coli blood stream infections in Europe at 17,000 (95%CI [8,000; 30,000]) excess deaths and 960,000 (95%CI [600,000; 1,450,000]) extra hospital bed days. From those, the contribution due to 3rd generation cephalosporins and carbapenems resistant strains reached 6,000 (95%CI [2,000; 12,000]) excess deaths, and 200,000 (95%CI [76,000; 420,000]) extra hospital bed stay. In the worst case scenario, we estimated the burden of E. coli blood stream infection in 2026 could increase over 4-fold, mostly resulting from an increase in the level of resistance rather than an increase in the incidence of blood stream infections. Finally, we estimated that the impact of combined novel diagnostics and treatments could substantially reduce the excess mortality by 18.5% to 55.5%, and length of stay by 13.2% to 75.6%.
