Microbiology JC088: Antimicrobial Resistance Flashcards

1
Q

***Beta-lactams

A
  1. Penicillin
    - Penicillin G (Strept)
    - Cloxacillin (Staph)
    - Piperacillin (Pseudomonas)
  2. Cephalosporin
    - 1st gen: Cephalexin
    - 2nd gen: Cefuroxime (+ Gram -ve)
    - 3rd gen: Ceftriaxone (++ Gram -ve), Ceftazidime (+ Non-fermenters), Cefoxitin, Cefotaxime
    - 4th gen: Cefepime (+ Gram +ve)
    - Anti-MRSA: Ceftaroline
  3. BLBLI (Beta-lactam/Beta-lactamase inhibitor)
    - Augmentin
    - Tazocin
    - Timentin
  4. Carbapenems
    - Imipenem
    - Meropenem (broadest Gram +ve/-ve spectrum)
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2
Q

Antibiotic resistance

A

Intrinsic
- a **trait of the bacterial Genus / Species
- all members in the Genus / Species are resistant
- some intrinsic resistance can be difficult to detect (and may require special laboratory techniques)
- will not bother to testing susceptibility ∵ already known
- reason:
—> **
no target for antibiotics
—> possess resistance mechanism as part of chromosomes (i.e. ***born with resistance mechanism)
- example: Proteus mirabilis: intrinsic resistance to Nitrofurantoin, Colistin

Acquired
- wild type are susceptible but turn resistant because of various mechanisms
—> **Mutational
—> **
Horizontal gene transfer

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3
Q

Antibiotic / Organism combination where mutational resistance readily develop

A

Example:

  • Staphylococci: Fusidic acid, Rifampicin, Fluoroquinolone
  • Erythromycin-resistant staphylococci: Clindamycin
  • Strept. pneumoniae: Ciprofloxacin
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa: All anti-pseudomonal antibiotics, except colistin and possibly meropenem
  • Burkholderia cepacia: ***All relevant antibiotics

Implications:

  1. Use alternative agents to treat infections caused by these organisms
  2. Never use these agents as Monotherapy for these organisms
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4
Q

Acquired resistance by Horizontal gene transfer

A

Acquisition of ***exogenous genes from other bacterial species / genus

Vehicles that facilitate horizontal gene transfer:

  1. ***Integron
  2. ***Transposon
    - integrated into chromosome / carried by plasmid from one bacterial cell to another
    - Transposable elements are “jumping genes” with an ability to change their genomic / plasmid positions

Implication:

  1. Antibiotic resistance does NOT evolve in a ***step-wise manner!
    - even if treated with only 1 antibiotic —> bacteria will select for acquisition of plasmid encoding multi-resistant genes —> resistance to multiple antibiotics
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5
Q

Resistance phenotype where special laboratory technique needed

A

∵ Expression of resistance trait is inducible

Example:
Erythromycin: induce expression of resistance gene in bacteria —> resistant to Clindamycin —> Positive D-test

(Erythromycin令到bacteria都resistant to Clindamycin)

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6
Q

***Big gun antibiotics

A

It depends on:
1. Reliable coverage against ***“most” of
- usual / unusual CAI
- usual / unusual HAI
—> affected by antimicrobial resistance (different for different areas, patient population, other factors)

  1. Prescribed ***infrequently (require senior endorsement)
  2. ***Reserved when other antibiotics doesn’t work
  3. Initial therapy for ***deadly infections
  4. ***Expensive (administrators)

Big gun = Exit doors when clinicians are faced with uncertainties

No single big gun is good for all:
- Need to localise infections (e.g. in GI / lung / UTI / heart) (i.e. Syndromic diagnosis)
—> Allow educated guess of “likely” organisms + historical susceptibility
—> Look up susceptibility table (Antibiogram) from local data (Susceptible / Intermediate / Resistant)
(Non-susceptible = Intermediate / Resistant)

Drug of choice for serious infections (e.g. bacteraemia)

  1. MRSA: **Vancomycin, **Linezolid, Daptomycin
  2. VRE: ***Linezolid, Daptomycin
  3. ESBL: ***Carbapenem
  4. CRE: no drugs
  5. CRAB: no drugs
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7
Q

Limited Population Antibacterial Drug (LPAD): fast track FDA approval pathway

A
  • only for products to treat **serious / life-threatening infections with **few / no treatment options
    —> not intended for products that would treat non-serious infections / that already have a satisfactory set of treatment options
  • LPAD drugs can be approved based upon ***smaller clinical trials
  • ***no change in standard of evidence
  • drug label would be specified as such
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8
Q

Antimicrobial resistance ecosystem

A

3 connected ecosystems:

  1. Clinical ecosystem: High selection pressure
  2. Non-clinical ecosystem: Medium selection pressure
  3. Environmental ecosystem: Low resistance gene selection

One health approach: collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines
- e.g. reduce reservoirs in food-producing animals to limit transmission of drug-resistant bacteria from food-producing animals to human

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9
Q

***Multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO)

A

Definition:
- Resistance to “one” critically important ***class

Example:

  • MRSA: total β-lactam failure —> need Vancomycin, Linezolid
  • VRE: vancomycin failure —> need Linezolid
  • ESBL: cephalosporin failure —> need Carbapenem
  • CRE: total β-lactam failure —> No drugs
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10
Q

Metrics for superbugs must be interpreted with care

A
  1. ***Percentage (can be misleading ∵ no absolute value)
    - MRSA 46%
    - ESBL-EC 27%
    - CRAB 43%
    - VRE <0.1%
  2. ***Incidence rate (standardised but difficult concepts)
    - per 1000 admission
    - per bed day occupied
    - per 100,000 populations
    —> for trend analysis by epidemiologists
  3. Numbers (easy to understand)
    - no. of patients with a bacteria
    - no. of patients with blood culture positive for a bacteria
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11
Q

***Antibiogram % susceptible / non-susceptible can be calculated in different ways

A
  1. All isolates
    - using duplicate isolates from multiple specimens from the ***same patient may cause bias
  2. First isolate per patient
    - result of only ***first isolate of a given species recovered from each patient during the investigated time interval, regardless of body source / specimen type
  3. ***Episode-based (denominator: 入院次數)
    - commonly used (∵ doctor see patient on an episode basis)
  4. ***Most resistant interpretation per patient
    - “what percent of patients was found to have >=1 MRSA isolate?”
    - gives the worst case scenario

Therefore percent must be interpreted in context (i.e. the method used to calculate the %)

Sample size is important as well!!!
—> In general, % should not be calculated if the size is <30 / use 95% confidence interval

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12
Q

ESBL (Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase)

A

A group of enzymes produced by some Enterobacteriaceae

  • ***E. coli
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae
  • Proteus
  • Enterobacter
  • Shigella
  • Salmonella

Resistant to ***extended spectrum Cephalosporin:

  • Ceftazidime
  • Rocephin (Ceftriaxone)

Often ***multi-drug resistant:

  • Cotrimoxazole
  • Fluoroquinolone
  • Aminoglycoside

Epidemiology:

  • 50% of in-patient ESBL burden in >=75 yo
  • 3 fold increase from 2003
  • Seasonal surge (esp. flu season ∵ overcrowding in wards)
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13
Q

MRSA

A

MSSA (virulent) acquiring resistance gene ***SCCmec (mecA) —> MRSA (virulent + resistant)

MRSA:
- resistant to **ALL β-lactam antibiotics (with exception of anti-MRSA β-lactam e.g. **Ceftaroline)

Methicillin:

  • not clinically used to treat patients
  • previously used for detection of this resistance mechanism in SA

Epidemiology (annually):

  • 10000+ colonisations
  • 3000+ infections
  • 600 bacteraemia
  • 200 deaths
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14
Q

Acinetobacter baumannii

A
  • less virulent
  • infections are usually hospital-acquired
  • causes a wide range of infections esp. pneumonia
  • ***intrinsic resistance to wide range of drugs —> very limited treatment options
  • ***acquired resistance occurs readily during treatment
  • Carbapenem was previously treatment of choice —> widespread emergence of resistance
  • some isolates are resistant to all available antibiotics including ***Colistin

2 definitions commonly used for surveillance:

  1. CRAB
  2. MRAB
  • **MDR: non-susceptible to >=1 agents in >=3 classes
  • **XDR: non-susceptible to >=1 agents in all but >=2 classes
  • **PDR (pandrug): non-susceptible to all agents listed

Traditional approach (Culture):

  • 3 cultures needed stepwisely
  • Turn Around Time (TAT, time to identify organism): 4 days
  • **MALDI-TOF approach:
  • only 1 culture needed —> then send for MALDI-TOF
  • TAT: 2 days
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15
Q

Antibiotic algorithm - Inpatient infections

A

Factors:
- age, underlying disease, infection source, severity, VIP, antibiotic history, recent culture results

Low risk infection (majority): ***Escalation strategy
- Start with narrow spectrum (Cefuroxime, Augmentin, Levofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin)
—> Tazocin
—> Carbapenem

  • Excessive antibiotic therapy is harmful
    —> antibiotic budget
    —> ecological consequence - hospital flora
    —> small gain off-set by increase in: yeast, C. difficile, more problematic superbugs (e.g. S. maltophilia, KPC, CRAB)
  • Minimise vicious cycle —> some patients will receive discordant treatment initially

High risk infection: ***De-escalation strategy

  • Start with big gun antibiotic (Carbapenem) —> reduce down to Cefuroxime, Augmentin, Levofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin
  • The later the worse: each hour of delay in antimicrobial administration over 6 hours was associated with decrease in 8% survival
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16
Q

Mycoplasma pneumoniae

A
  • Intrinsic resistance: β-lactams (∵ lack of cell wall)
  • Acquired resistance: Macrolide (40% of all mycoplasma)

Management:

  1. ***Macrolide (now resistant)
  2. ***Tetracycline
  3. ***Fluoroquinolone

Problem:
- Tetracycline / Fluoroquinolone not suitable for children (<8 / <18 respectively), pregnancy

17
Q

CA-MRSA

A
  • Affected persons without healthcare risks
  • New types of MRSA with unique genotypic features e.g. PVL positive
  • Remain sensitive to Co-trimoxazole and Minocycline
18
Q

Macrolide

A

Surging resistance by all Streptococci (pneumoniae, pyogenes, agalactiae, Group G)