Infections and antibiotic resistance in primary care
The antibiotic resistance epidemiology of the department of Medical Microbiology focuses on the prevalence of antibiotic resistant indicator bacteria, the molecular mechanisms of the antibiotic resistance and the spread of the antibiotic resistant micro-organisms/antibiotic resistant genes between different populations i.e. healthy persons, general practice patients and nursing home residents.
This continuous line of research on this subject is executed in close cooperation with general practitioners participating in the NIVEL sentinel station project and 14 hospitals all over the Netherlands. The activities are funded by the Cib (RIVM).
Antibiotic resistance data
The aim of this surveillance is to provide actual antibiotic resistance data to those prescribed and to those involved in the development of therapy guidelines, i.e. the NHG (Dutch Society of General Practitioners for general practice patients and the SWAB (Stichting Werkgroep Antibiotic Beleid). The SWAB is the national working group which develops and revises therapy guidelines for a wide range of diseases at regular intervals (pneumoniae originating in and outside the hospital, bloodstream infections and so on).
Pulmonary disease
In addition to the antibiotic resistance projects, chronic pulmonary disease, especially Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD), in non-hospitalised elderly patients is another topic within this programme. Although a lot of studies have already described the occurrence and the complications of COPD, the pathogenesis of COPD and the risk factor(s) for an acute exacerbation (AE) are still not yet well understood. Insight into the risk factors is a prerequisite for the development of effective strategies to prevent or at least to reduce the frequency of AE. Our focus is on the isolation and characterisation of the microbial agents, i.e. bacteria and viruses, during the stable phase and during an AE.
Infectious disease in the field of public health
Another topic of research in the programme is around the public health projects on infectious disease in the field of public health that are done in cooperation with the municipal health department (GGD) South Limburg, with a focus on prevention of infectious diseases (head dr. C. Hoebe). The overall aims of the different surveillance projects that the department of Medical Microbiology is involved in are firstly, to provide actual antibiotic resistance data of relevant micro-organisms, secondly, to gain insight into the spread of resistant micro-organisms between different patient populations and finally to analyse the molecular mechanisms of resistance, which includes analysis of the mechanisms of resistance and analysis of the genes responsible for the resistance. Ultimately, this will contribute to the control of the increasing problem of antibiotic resistance both in, and outside, hospital.