Global spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae: Epidemiological features, resistance mechanisms, detection and therapy

Abstract

Bacterial drug resistance has become a global public health threat, among which the infection of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) is one of the top noticeable issues in the global anti-infection area due to limited therapy options. In recent years, the prevalence of CRE transmission around the world has increased, and the transmission of COVID-19 has intensified the situation to a certain extent. CRE resistance can be induced by carbapenemase, porin, efflux pump, penicillin-binding protein alteration, and biofilm production. Deletion, mutation, insertion, and post-transcriptional modification of corresponding coding genes may affect the sensitivity of Enterobacterales bacteria to carbapenems. Clinical and laboratory methods to detect CRE and explore its resistance mechanisms are being developed. Due to the limited options of antibiotics, the clinical treatment of CRE infection also faces severe challenges. The clinical therapies of CRE include single or combined use of antibiotics, and some new antibiotics and treatment methods are also being developed. Hence, this review summarizes the epidemiology, resistance mechanisms, screening and clinical treatments of CRE infection, to provide references for clinical prevention, control and treatment of CRE infection.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance mechanisms; Carbapenems; Clinical therapy; Enterobacteriaceae; Epidemiology; Laboratory detection.