Hospital types of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (E.coli) could cause infections in patients in community settings in a similar way to MRSA, doctors warn today.

The bacteria E.coli can have harmless strains but others can cause serious food poisoning.

Writing in the Lancet journal, Dr Johann Pitout and Dr Kevin Laupland from the University of Calgary say doctors could in the future be regularly faced with hospital types of E.coli bacteria.

Urinary tract infections are common manifestations of these strains of E.coli but reports have also recently described some antibiotic-resistant E.coli strains as a cause of bloodstream infections in countries including the UK, Italy and Canada.

Dr Pitout and Dr Laupland base their claims on a review of several surveys of E.coli since 2000 from various European countries.

"Infection control practitioners and clinicians need the clinical laboratory to rapidly identify and characterise different types of resistant bacteria efficiently to minimise the spread of these bacteria and help select more appropriate antibiotics," they said.

"These bacteria have become widely prevalent in the community setting in certain areas of the world and they are most likely being imported into the hospital setting."

The doctors added: "These infections are currently rare, but it is possible that, in the near future, clinicians will be regularly confronted with hospital types of bacteria causing infections in patients from the community, a scenario very similar to that of community-acquired MRSA."

Dr Pitout and Dr Laupland say international funding should be directed to track and monitor the worldwide spread of resistant E.coli within hospital and community settings.

© Adfero Ltd