Multi-drug resistant bacteria widespread in Europe, report says

Multi-drug resistant bacteria "are increasing their grip in Europe with rates of drug resistance in one type of bacteria reaching 50 percent in the worst-hit countries, health officials said Thursday," Reuters reports. "In a report [.pdf] on multi-drug resistant bacteria, ... the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease across the European Union, said the need to combat resistance was 'critical,'" the news agency writes, adding, "To a large extent, antibiotic resistance is driven by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which encourages bacteria to develop new ways of overcoming them" (Kelland, 11/17).

The report was released on the 4th European Antibiotic Awareness Day, which aims "to raise awareness about growing resistance to last-line antibiotics in Europe and to foster national campaigns across Europe," according to an ECDC press release (11/17).