HOSPITAL AND HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
REDUCING THE SUPERBUG RISK
Antimicrobial resistance is outpacing medical advances and threatening our health, according to the World Health Organization. Liam Mynes from Tork manufacturer Essity, looks at the current superbug risk and considers the importance of good hand hygiene in breaking the chain of infection.
One in six bacterial infections worldwide are showing a resistance to antibiotic treatments, according to a recent study.
More than 40% of E. coli infections and 55% of K. pneumoniae infections are now resistant to third- generation cephalosporins, the first choice of treatment for these infections. This was reported by the World Health Organization which sounded the alarm in the autumn over soaring numbers of drug-resistant bacterial infections.
We have all come to rely on antibiotics as a swift means of fighting infections. But a number of bacteria have developed a resistance to the medicines designed to fight them, rendering many drugs useless. In fact, antimicrobial-resistant superbugs directly cause over a million deaths each year and contribute to nearly five million more, according to the WHO.
The term ‘superbug’ first entered common usage in the late 1990s when MRSA became prevalent. However, cases of MRSA – methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus – were eventually brought under control due to a combination of enhanced screenings and a better understanding of how it can be prevented.
But alarmingly, cases appear to be on the rise again. A massive 48.3% increase in cases was recorded in April- June 2025 compared with the equivalent quarter in 2019, and a 6.7% increase was logged in 2025 over 2024. While these are mostly community-based infections rather than hospital illnesses, the figures are still concerning.
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Meanwhile, the drug-resistant fungus Candida auris is another major concern, particularly in hospital and care home settings. This is because it is resistant to many antifungal treatments, can be difficult to detect and tends to linger on surfaces. A total of 1,346 cases were reported in 2023, a 67% increase on the previous year.
Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales represent another major concern. These are resistant to carbapenems which are a group of powerful, last-resort antibiotics. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that infections from CRE with the ‘NDM gene’ rose by 460% across America between 2019 and 2023.
Hospital patients and care home residents are particularly vulnerable to superbugs because they are often elderly and ill and have compromised immune systems. Every care therefore needs to be taken to protect them against potentially life-threatening infections.
Experts agree that good hand hygiene is the best way of curbing the spread of infections and viruses in hospitals. According to World Health Organization guidance, staff need to wash their hands before touching a patient, before carrying out any aseptic procedure, after any exposure to body fluid, after touching a patient and after touching the patient’s surroundings.
But in order to be able to practise thorough hand washing and drying, medical staff need to have constant access to effective skin-friendly products.
Soap and hand towels should be easy to use and kind to the hands since healthcare staff members will need to
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