They warn that intrahospital infections have happened in private homes

Intra-hospital infections, caused largely by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, are no longer restricted to medical facilities, he warned. Argentine Association of Microbiology (AAM), who noted that "they have already arrived in retirement homes and even hospitalized patients at their homes".

This was one of the topics discussed in the recent VIII Congress of the Argentine Society of Bacteriology, Mycology and Clinical Parasitology (Sadebac) – which is part of the AAM – and which raises the concern of the scientific community because "the rate of resistance to molecules with antibiotic action of current use is very high".

According to World Health Organization (WHO) Every year, about 700,000 people die from antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a figure that will reach 10 million by 2050 "if no action is taken".

"These health care-badociated infections, also known as intrahospital, are closely related to the use of medical devices with which we had not counted before, "he explained. the biochemist and specialist in clinical bacteriology, Jaime Kovensky Pupko.

Sadebac, expert and coordinator of the Subcommittee on Antimicrobials, said, "Medicine has come a long way, so more and more patients with compromised immune systems (transplanted, oncological) are exposed to invasive procedures. , which carry an unavoidable risk of infection. "

He also stressed that "one of the most worrying problems is the the low rate of adherence to handwashing of health staff, that in Argentina, it does not exceed 30% ".

"The biggest problem of not washing your hands is the horizontal transmission of bacteria," agreed biochemistry. Adriana Sucari, vice president of the AAM and president of Sadebac.

He added: "Physicians, nurses, kinesiologists and all health personnel who badist a patient with a resistant bacterium can pbad it on to the next patient if they do not wash their hands together. ".

The two specialists also agreed that it was "fundamental" to contain the rate of health care-badociated infections, which is also observed in day hospitals, homes for the elderly and hospitalized patients at home.

"Each medical facility should design and implement a surveillance program that includes research for carriers of multidrug-resistant bacteria and the application of precautions to prevent horizontal transmission, which occurs from patient to patient or in his hands. health personnel and the use of objects such as stethoscopes and thermometers, "suggested Kovensky.

He recalled that antimicrobial resistance is linked to the "abuse or misuse" of antibiotics: "In 2016, antimicrobial resistance was the health issue addressed by the Presidents' Summit organized by the United States. United Nations".

"For the first time, Heads of State committed themselves to adopt a strategy coordinated on a large scale to address human, animal and agricultural health, "he said.

"Antibiotics must be prescribed by a doctor and this prescription must be filed at the pharmacy." Studies show that non-compliance with this rule reaches 80% in the province of Buenos Aires, "he said during a dialogue with this agency.

He added: "This over-the-counter sale in most cases responds to self-medication behavior, in cases where the antibiotic is not necessary because they are viral images, which produce resistant bacteria in the infectious center or in the intestinal microbiota that inhabits us"

"We all need to take care of the ecology of our own microbial flora if we want to contain the progress of microbial resistance," he added. Kovensky.