Bacteria strain that evades antibiotics is spreading in Europe
MRSA (meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a type of bacteria that has evolved to the point where first-choice antibiotics no longer work against it, making it harder to treat. It can cause serious health problems if it gets inside the body, causing more than 100,000 deaths worldwide in 2019.
A new strain of MRSA was identified in Germany and the Netherlands nearly a decade ago – and it has since spread to at least nine other European countries, according to new research by Denmark's Statens Serum Institut (SSI).
The scientists began to worry that the strain might be circulating in Denmark after 32 children and family members developed ulcers that were caused by a specific type of staph bacteria in summer 2023. A year later, they identified another outbreak from the same bacteria elsewhere in the country.
They suspected Denmark was not the only place affected by the new strain, which they call a 'clone' of another type of MRSA because they have some genetic similarities.
When they analysed samples across Europe, they found the bacteria in 11 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
'This clone, which was first found in Germany and the Netherlands in 2014, is a new subtype' of the bacteria, Andreas Petersen, a MRSA researcher at SSI who led the study, said in a statement.
The researchers published their findings in the journal Eurosurveillance.
The strain is genetically similar to another form of MRSA that appears to cause impetigo, a bacterial skin infection that causes red sores to form and burst around the nose and mouth.
Most common among children aged two to five, impetigo is highly contagious and can spread easily within families. Outbreaks usually occur in late summer and early autumn.
Impetigo usually isn't dangerous, but rare complications include kidney damage and cellulitis, an infection that can be life-threatening if it spreads to the lymph nodes and bloodstream.
Fusidic acid, an antibiotic cream, is commonly used to treat impetigo infections, but it does not work well against the MRSA strain.
That is why doctors across Europe need to know if it may be spreading in their communities, the researchers said.
'We believe that it is a combination of these virulence factors [or genes] as well as the resistance to fusidin that has helped make this new type so successful,' Petersen said.
MRSA is just one of many health threats emerging due to antibiotic resistance. Infections from so-called superbugs could kill more than 39 million people worldwide over the next 25 years, according to a landmark study published last year.
Antibiotic resistance also takes a toll on the health system. Together, the 11 countries where the new MRSA strain has been identified spent nearly $13.3 billion (€11.4 billion) treating hospital patients with drug-resistant infections in 2022, according to recent estimates from the Center for Global Development.
The Danish researchers believe the new strain may be spreading undetected in other parts of Europe as well.
It has already been found outside of hospitals and nursing homes, which have strict protocols in place to contain MRSA, Petersen said.
'The spread of MRSA in the community is more difficult to monitor and combat,' he added.
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