Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is fueling a dangerous rise in bacterial drug resistance—an alarming reality made clear by a recent case report of an injured Ukrainian soldier who became infected with six different extensively drug-resistant bacteria, one of which was resistant to every antibiotic tested.
Summary:
•Dirty wounds from injuries caused by explosions and metal fragments come into contact with environmental bacteria, dust and soil which harbor drug resistant bacteria. The toxic metals from explosives can also promote the development and spread of drug resistance in bacteria.
•The overwhelmed healthcare system has broken infection control measures, lack of laboratory testing and heavy use of broad-spectrum antibiotics to keep injured people alive. This promotes the growth and spread of drug resistant bacteria.
•As injured people are evacuated and move through different healthcare facilities, they can pick up and spread multi-drug resistant infections caused by nosocomial bacteria that exist in hospitals.
•A previous study found that bacteria isolated from Ukrainian military hospitals had much higher rates of antibiotic resistance compared to civilian hospitals in Ukraine and Europe. This indicates that the conditions of war are exacerbating the problem.
•The case of the Ukrainian soldier with 6 extensively drug resistant bacterial infections highlights the increased risk of drug resistant infections due to the conflict in Ukraine. Healthcare providers need to implement proper infection control to prevent the spread of these bacteria.
This was reported on in Norway too, which accepts injured Ukrainian soldiers to help with longer term treatment.
Norwegian hospitals just expects any injured soldier to be infected with multi-resistant bacteria and isolated them immediately according to strict protocols. And that’s perhaps the most important step in avoiding spread that treatment in Ukraine just has no chance to do during war time.
Thought history war and disease spread has gone hand in hand
