Infections after chemotherapy and surgery are particularly resistant to antibiotics, according to new findings that point to the impact of the growing public health issue.
The new findings could complicate the safety and effectiveness of the widespread cancer treatment and surgery procedures. The finding comes as Congress is considering new legislation to get new antibiotics approved much faster.
A study published Thursday in the medical journal Lancet looked at the increase of antibiotic resistance in infections from the 10 most common surgical procedures. It also looked at immunosuppressing cancer chemotherapies that use the antibiotic prophylaxis.
Researchers looked at scientific literature to determine the percentage of pathogens causing infections that are resistant to the standard antibiotics used to treat them.
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They found that up to 50 percent of the pathogens causing surgical infections and 26 percent of pathogens causing chemotherapy infections are resistant.
The study said more data is needed to determine how to modify antibiotic recommendations to stop the rate of resistance.
Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health issue and has gotten attention from Congress.
The 21st Century Cures Act, which was passed by the House earlier this year and awaits action in the Senate, included a provision that enables antibiotics to be approved faster by the Food and Drug Administration. The goal is to reinvigorate the antibiotic drug pipeline, which has stagnated over the years.
Several large food producers such as Perdue and Tysons pledged to stop using antibiotics in their livestock to make them grow bigger and be more resistant to diseases. Public health officials have said that livestock can build up a resistance to antibiotics, and that resistance is then passed on to humans when the animal is eaten.
