MEDLATEC - Private healthcare unit takes the lead in antibiotic resistance monitoring in the national strategy
Antibiotic resistance (AMR) is currently a health challenge, a serious threat to people's health worldwide, greatly affecting treatment outcomes, increasing medical costs and prolonging hospital stay.
In Vietnam, the AMR monitoring system is still disjointed, mainly concentrated in some central hospitals, and has not comprehensively assessed the level of drug resistance by region and over time.
Implementing the National Strategy on Drug Resistance Prevention in Vietnam for the period 2023-2030 approved by the Prime Minister in 2023, together with the desire to join hands to contribute to improving this situation in our country; the MEDLATEC Health System - the unit that owns a wide-range health network with 40 nationwide Testing rooms and 01 Testing Center in Hanoi has coordinated with the Agency for Drug Resistance Research (AMR) under the National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan (NIID) - the leading research facility on infectious diseases in Asia.
The scientific conference "Antibiotic resistance monitoring and cooperation results between MEDLATEC & Center for Drug Resistance Research - National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan" brought performances by leading experts nationwide such as Military Hospital 103, Hospital 108, Viet Duc Hospital. Of which, MEDLATEC is the only non-public health unit participating in the research and reporting at this conference. In particular, the combination of MEDLATEC and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan has demonstrated the capacity and confidence in the effective cooperation model between Vietnam and Japan in the health sector, especially in the context of the need to share experiences, technology and data to respond to drug resistance challenges, which is a concern globally in general, in Vietnam in particular.
Speaking at the conference, Dr. Nguyen Trong Khoa - Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health emphasized: "Over the years, we have established a nationwide drug resistance monitoring network, but the number is still modest and only concentrated in large medical units. I welcome MEDLATEC's participation in the national surveillance network and hope that there will be many medical facilities participating in the nationwide microbial network so that we can have an overview of the drug resistance situation in Vietnam, thereby developing a more sustainable strategy for preventing drug-resistant bacteria".
Sketching up the "paint" of antibiotic resistance in Vietnam
At the Conference, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Thai Son - Director of Medlatec Testing System shared a report "Monitoring of antibiotic antibiotics in the North and Central region through Medlatec Health System, 2022-2024".
Research results show that gram negative bacteria account for 60.7%, of which the most common gram negative bacteria are: E. coli, K. pneumoniae, H. Influenza, P. aeruginosa, Moraxella spp, Acinetobacter spp and some other gram negative bacteria. Of which, E. coli and K. pneumoniae bacteria are the two most common, mainly separated from urine samples and respiratory infections.
gram positive group accounts for 39.3%, most commonly found in: S. aureus, Enterococcus, S. pneumoniae, Streptococcus spp and Staphylococcus coagulase negative. Of which, Staphylococcus spp and Enterococcus spp are the most common agents, often separated from blood samples, secretions and body fluids.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thai Son said: Analyzing culture and antibiotic data accumulated from clinical diseases not only helps identify common bacteria, but also provides practical evidence for clinicians to choose the right antibiotics according to the personalized regimen for each patient, thereby improving the effectiveness and shortening treatment time, reducing complications, especially limiting resistance to drugs in disease-causing bacteria.
Next, the report published the results of research on the antibiotic resistance of each major gram negative and gram positive bacteria as well as the rate and trend of antibiotic resistance in each region of the Northern and Central regions.
The expert emphasized: With a widespread surveillance system in providing representative data, the research results are reliable, thereby helping clinicians have a basis to reasonably choose antibiotics initially for patients. At the same time, the success of the study is also an important foundation to promote the cooperative relationship between MEDLATEC and the Center for Drug Prevention and Control, National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan (NIID) in the next phase, towards a model of data sharing and regional AMR monitoring, as well as MEDLATEC will be a bright spot in implementing the national strategy on drug resistance prevention in Vietnam.
In addition, another highlight of MEDLATEC at this conference is the report: "Research on the distribution characteristics and antibiotic sensitivity of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria in the Northern and Central regions through the MEDLATEC Health System for the period 2022-2024", reported by MSc. Dr. Nguyen Huy Vinh - Head of the Biology Department, MEDLATEC Testing Center.
Klebsiella pneumoniae is among the most common negative grammar groups, resistant to many antibiotics, causing great difficulties in treatment and posing a serious threat to global public health.
Faced with this urgent problem, in 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a List of drug-resistant bacterial agents that need to be prioritized for research and development of new antibiotics. In this list, Klebsiella pneumoniae is classified as priority group No. 1.
Implementing the research project, from 2022 to 2024, the MEDLATEC Testing Center classified 14,114 strains of bacteria, of which the Klebsiella pneumoniae strain accounted for 6% of the total number of strains of bacteria classified (826 strains). Research results show that this bacteria is resistant to many antibiotics, especially carbapenem resistance with a rate of 30- 40%.
With the results of research conducted at the MEDLATEC Health System, this is not only a valuable reference document for experts, but also a wake-up call for health managers, treatment facilities and the whole society about the risk of drug resistance and general responsibility for the safe and effective use of antibiotics. At the same time, the above research results will provide an objective and updated view of the circulation and resistance of disease-causing bacteria, thereby supporting clinicians in choosing reasonable antibiotics, contributing to the national drug resistance monitoring strategy.
