UK agency recommends better monitoring of multidrug resistant E coli

The Health Protection Agency, the body that monitors and advises on infectious diseases in the United Kingdom, has recommended that monitoring of multidrug resistant Escherichia coli be improved. Its report, published this week, shows a big increase over the past four years in the number of infections associated with the bacterium.

The agency found that the number of infections caused by E colibacteria that produce extended spectrum β lactamase (ESBL) was growing. Extended spectrum β lactamase is an enzyme that hydrolyses and confers resistance to modern cephalosporin antibiotics. The increase has occurred in the …