Institute for Infection Prevention and Control

Nature Communications: International and regional spread of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in Europe

Resistance towards antibiotics poses challenges in hospitals, since treatment options become limited. This is especially true for carbapenems, which are broad-spectrum antibiotics often used as a last resort for treating serious bacterial infections, such as those caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae.

An international consortium – COMBACTE-CARE EURECA – led by Dr. Sandra Reuter has now investigated the carbapenem-resistant variants of Klebsiella pneumoniae circulating in Southern European countries. In comparison with previous studies, changes over time were visible such as a particular variant in Türkiye that is now more prominent as a carbapenem-resistant lineage with various resistance mechanisms. Other regional differences include a variant in Serbia that is now more resistant than in previous years.

The investigation also focussed on which resistance mechanisms are found in which countries and which variants of concern. Particularly worrisome is an up-and-coming, easily adapting lineage that variably picks up mechanisms depending on the country it is found in.

Budia Silva, M., Kostyanev, T., Ayala Montaño, S., Bravo-Ferrer Acosta, J., Garcia-Castillo, M., Cantón, R., Goossens, H., Rodriguez-Baño, J., Grundmann, H., and Reuter, S. (2024). International and regional spread of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia in Europe. Nat Comm 15(1): 5092. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49349-z

PNAS Publication - New method to measure how fast a virus variant spreads

A research group led by Dr. Sandra Reuter and Dr. Tjibbe Donker from the Institute for Infection Prevention has developed new methods to measure how quickly a new virus variant spreads. 
The new method can be used to:

•  Read genetic traces of new virus variants
•  Determine when a new virus variant appeared
•  Measure how quickly the new virus variant spreads

Using this method, we were able to recognise all important SARS-CoV-2 variants in data from all the countries we studied. Methods like this are possible due to the large amount of genetic data collected during the pandemic through so-called genomic surveillance. They represent a completely new way of analysing this data and provide new information needed for pandemic response.

Donker, T., Papathanassopoulos, A., Ghosh, H., Kociurzynski, R., Felder, M., Grundmann, H., & Reuter, S. (2024). Estimation of SARS-CoV-2 fitness gains from genomic surveillance data without prior lineage classification. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 121, Issue 25). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2314262121