Antibiotics treat E coli bacteria: What you need to know

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Dang Xuan Cuong - Emergency Resuscitation Department - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital. The doctor has 14 years of experience in the field of emergency resuscitation and poison control.

Currently, antibiotic resistance is becoming increasingly common with many strains of bacteria and viruses. E Coli is a bacteria with high antibiotic resistance that is causing a lot of concern in the community.

E. coli is a gram-negative bacteria that lives mainly in the human gastrointestinal tract. It is the cause of intestinal diseases such as diarrhea, urinary tract infections, meningitis and other infections in the digestive system.
Currently, there are many strains of E.coli bacteria, but the antibiotic resistant strain is H30-Rx. According to recent research by US scientists, this antibiotic-resistant strain of E.coli bacteria has the ability to spread from urinary tract infections to the blood and cause bacteremia - an extremely serious complication. threaten the patient's life.
E.coli bacteria are normally resistant to 3rd generation antibiotics such as: ceftriaxone, cefuroxime..sometimes there are also cases of resistance to carbapenem antibiotics - the strongest antibiotics available today. For the E.coli virus H30- Rx is thought to be resistant to almost all common antibiotics still commonly used to treat common infections.

Some antibiotics still have the ability to kill E.Coli bacteria when sick. The antibiotics that are still sensitive to this bacterium are ciprofl oxacin, amikacin and nalidixic acid.
When using antibiotics in the treatment of E. Coli bacteria, it is necessary to pay attention to:
Consider the spectrum of effects and drug resistance of E. Coli bacteria to choose a reasonable and effective antibiotic. Prioritize the selection of antibiotics with narrow spectrum of action. Limit prescribing in the first place in the outpatient treatment of potent broad-spectrum antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, etc. . . to minimize the resistance of E. Coli bacteria in the community to those antibiotics. The selection of antibiotics must be objective and scientific, should pay attention to the list of all antibiotics, should not only prescribe new, broad-spectrum, expensive antibiotics, but forget that there are still many types of antibiotics. Very long life, low cost, but still good effect in treatment. In the past 10 years, the pharmaceutical industry has not invented any new antibiotics other than those currently in use. Therefore, protecting the effectiveness of antibiotics by prescribing appropriate antibiotics is the only and optimal measure that we can do to limit the current antibiotic resistance.

The general treatment for common E.coli infections that cause gastrointestinal illness is
Rehydration and electrolytes for the infected person as soon as possible. If there are blood problems such as anemia, the infected person will be given fluids, if necessary, will need a blood transfusion. If the patient has kidney problems, hemodialysis is required, which removes toxic and waste products from the infected person's blood. Usually, people infected with E.coli will recover in 5-10 days without the use of medication. Conventional anti-diarrheal drugs do not work in treating E. coli infections, because these drugs will increase the time it takes for the body to absorb toxins caused by E. coli secretes and increases the risk of blood and kidney complications as well as the ability of bacteria to develop drug resistance... In cases where it is necessary to use drugs, it must be thoroughly tested and indicated and monitored. of the physician.