The threat of the carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae in Spain: Positioning report of the SEIMC study groups, GEIH and GEMARA

The emergence and spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), as the current paradigm of extensive drug-resistance and multi-drug resistance to antibiotics, is a serious threat to patient health and public health. The increase in OXA-48- and VIM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates represents the greatest impact of CPE in Spain. This evidence has lead the members of a representative panel of the Spanish Study Groups of Nosocomial Infections and Mechanisms of Action and Resistance. to Antimicrobials of the Spanish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (GEIH/GEMARA-SEIMC) to make a position statement expressing the need for: (i) definitive and coordinated action by all health professionals and authorities involved, and (ii) an adaptation of health systems to facilitate their early control and minimize their impact. (C) 2013 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. and Sociedad Espanola de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiologia Clinica. All rights reserved.