• Thursday, April 07, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Scientists in Brazil have created the first map of clusters of antibiotic resistance in Brazil, linking the phenomenon to abuse of the drug and opening doors to guide public policies for antibiotic prescription and sales.

The 'map of probability of risk of resistance to the ciprofloxacin antibiotic in Escherichia coli' was produced by the EUREQA (the acronym for 'epidemiology of use and bacterial resistance to chemotherapy and antibiotics in the population') project in São Paulo

Out of 4,372 cases of urinary tract infection caused by the E. coli bacterium, registered in 2002 in two outpatient clinics of the capital of the southern state of São Paulo, the study found that 723 were resistant to treatment with ciprofloxacin.

Each case was geocoded on a digital map, based on the patient's home address. Using this data, combined with the areas of influence of each point where the antibiotic is sold, the researchers determined the density of consumption of the medicine.

A statistical model and the geographic information system showed a link between resistance to the antibiotic and usage density, with the researchers identifying clusters of higher levels of risk to resistance to the medicine.

The study confirmed that in the case of this antibiotic, which is prescribed for urinary tract infections in women, 'there is a high level of consumption that has led to the emergence and accentuation of resistance to ciprofloxacin' in the city of São Paulo,' the study's coordinators told IPS in a written response.

Scientists Antônio de Monteiro of the National Institute for Space Research, Antônio Carlos Campos Pignatari of the Federal University of São Paulo medical school, and Carlos Kiffer of the Special Microbiology Laboratory at the Federal University of São Paulo explained in the response that the results must be replicated in additional studies, carried out elsewhere.

But they said the study demonstrates with a high level of certainty that when a specific antibiotic is widely consumed by a given population group, the members of that community are at higher risk of infection with resistant bacteria.

Thus, 'if many of our neighbours or people living nearby are using a specific antibiotic, it is possible for us to become infected with a more resistant bacterium, even if we have not recently taken antibiotics ourselves,' the authors added.

The study, 'A spatial approach for the epidemiology of antibiotic use and resistance in community-based studies: the emergence of urban clusters of Escherichia coli quinolone resistance in São Paulo, Brazil', was published Feb. 28 by the International Journal of Health Geographics. The study was funded by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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