Bad Gram Negatives Are “Big” in Greece

By Iosifina Giannakikou, MD

Dr. Giannakikou is an anesthesiologist and critical care physician who divides her time between Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, and Hygeia Hospital and Mitera Hospital, both in Athens, Greece.

Greece is a small country with some big problems—and one of them is the incidence of multidrug-resistant pathogens. Although there is a worldwide increase in the infections caused by multi-resistant gram negative pathogens, the pathogens’ high incidence and upstream rise from previous studies in Greece are particularly concerning.

The Greek System for the Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (GSSAR) provides alarming data about these pathogens. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase Enterobacteriaceae are becoming an epidemic in the country.