Bacterium that causes stomach cancer, ulcers becomes more resistant to antibiotics

H. pylori, the bacterium responsible for the development of gastritis, peptic ulcer and stomach cancer, has become twice as resistant to antibiotics in 20 years, said scientists at the UEG Week Barcelona 2019.

Scientists analyzed data on the treatment of 1232 patients from 18 European countries, paying particular attention to the problem of resistance of Helicobacter pylori bacteria to antibiotics that are usually used against them.

It turned out that resistance to clarithromycin, one of the most studied drugs against Helicobacter pylori, increased from 9.9% (in 1998) to 21.6% in (2018). The resistance of these bacteria to levofloxacin and metronidazole also increased.

The study also showed that the prevalence of antibiotic resistance of H. Pylori is highest in southern Italy, Croatia and Greece. The fact may be that in these countries the irrational use of antibiotics is common, for example, for viral respiratory diseases, which contributes to the spread of antibiotic resistance.