PESTILENCE
Pandrug-resistant bacteria from the war in Ukraine are extremely pathogenic
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Kristian Riesbeck, senior consultant and professor of clinical bacteriology at dep. of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Sweden.
view moreCredit: Photo: Tove Smeds.
Lund University in Sweden has previously reported on Kristian Riesbeck, professor of clinical bacteriology at Lund University and senior consultant, who was contacted by the Ukrainian microbiologist Oleksandr Nazarchuk for assistance in examining the degree of antibiotic resistance in bacteria from severely war-wounded and infected patients being treated in hospital.
Using samples from 141 war-wounded (133 adults wounded in the war and eight new-born babies with pneumonia) it could be shown that several bacteria types were resistant to broad-spectrum antibiotics and that six per cent of all samples were resistant to all the antibiotics that the researchers tested on them.
Now, the researchers have published an article in Journal of Infection, in which the researchers have gone on to examine whether Klebsiella pneumoniae* has the ability to cause disease in a wider context. Klebsiella can cause urinary tract infections, pneumonia, skin infections in wounds, and sepsis. The researchers used samples from 37 of the patients who had been previously shown to have resistant bacteria. The entire genome of the bacteria was sequenced to examine whether there were genes that can cause resistance.
“All the bacteria were shown to carry the genes that we know are associated with resistance. We saw that one quarter of them were resistant to all the available antimicrobial drugs on the market, these bacteria are said to have total resistance (pandrug-resistant). Infections caused by these bacteria become very difficult, or in some cases impossible, to treat with the medicines we have today,” says professor Riesbeck.
Pandrug-resistant bacteria are an extreme form of antibiotic resistance and a growing concern within healthcare.
The researchers were interested in finding out whether infection could be spread further via the bacteria taken from patients in Ukraine. To examine this, experiments were carried out in mice and insect larvae.
“It was shown that the bacteria types most resistant to antibiotics were also the ones that survived best in mice in connection with pneumonia. Similarly, these bacteria types were so aggressive that they killed the insect larvae considerably faster than the bacteria that were less resistant to antibiotics.”
Genetic sequencing showed that all Klebsiella bacteria with total resistance examined by the researchers carried the genes that make them more virulent.
“In many cases, bacteria lose their ability to infect and cause disease because all their energy is spent on being resistant to antibiotics. But we have perhaps underestimated bacteria: we saw that many of these bacteria types from Ukraine are equipped with genes that make them both resistant and virulent,” says Kristian Riesbeck.
According to professor Riesbeck, this means the bacteria that spread among the wounded in Ukraine will most likely continue to survive and cause problems.
“This is something that will not disappear over time. As long as the patients cannot be isolated and treated properly, the spread of infection will continue.”
Kristian Riesbeck considers the results are frightening, but not unexpected. This is what happens when the infrastructure of a healthcare system collapses. And it applies to Ukraine and other war-torn areas around the world.
“Even though these pandrug-resistant bacteria are fighting to survive our antibiotic treatments, they still have a complete set of genes that make them capable of causing disease. This is surprising for us all and unfortunately a worrying sign for the future.”
*Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the leading bacterial causes of mortality globally. It is estimated that Klebsiella pneumoniae is responsible for about 20 per cent of all deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance.
Fact: The article in Journal of Infection was led by Lund University and is a collaboration with colleagues from Ukraine, the EUCAST Laboratory in Växjö and Karolinska Institutet.
The research has been conducted with support from, among others, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Swedish Research Council, Swedish Heart Lung Foundation and ALF funding from Region Skåne.
Journal
Journal of Infection
Article Title
Pandrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from Ukrainian war victims are hypervirulent
Russia cements rule in occupied Ukrainian
regions through propaganda and violence
Issued on: 27/11/2024 -
Russia currently occupies about 18 percent of Ukraine's territory. Yet reliable information about what life is like there is hard to come by, since there is no longer any access for Ukrainian media. Nevertheless, various Ukrainian initiatives aim to shed light on what is happening in the occupied territories. The picture they paint is one of violent repression, propaganda and forced Russification. FRANCE 24’s correspondent Gulliver Cragg reports.
Almost a fifth of Ukraine's territory is occupied by Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled those areas and continue to do so, although the Russian authorities often try to prevent them, and the journey is a long and expensive one. Many residents remain, some acquiescent to Russian rule, others unwilling or unable to leave for a whole range of reasons. Not least because if they do, they are likely to lose their homes forever, as Russian soldiers or workers move in.
Reliable information about what life is like in the occupied territories is limited, as there is no access for Ukrainian media. In September, the last Ukrainian journalist to attempt to report from the occupied areas – Viktoria Roshchyna – died in Russian custody. Nevertheless, various Ukrainian initiatives aim to shed light on what is happening there, using sources on the ground (often via encrypted messaging services) and the testimonies of those who got out. The picture they paint is one of violent repression and forced Russification. Part of that has been the intensive development of new propaganda media in those areas.
As hopes of a swift military victory for Ukraine fade, and fears mount that the country could lose yet more territory, there is increasing speculation that Kyiv may leave Moscow in de facto control of the land it now occupies, in exchange for a ceasefire. A horrific prospect for many Ukrainians.
Danylo Mokryk’s film, which is featured in this report, was produced by The Kyiv Independent.
It is available to watch on Youtube with English or French subtitles.
By: Gulliver CRAGG
US President-elect Donald Trump named retired general Keith Kellogg as Ukraine and Russia envoy. Trump, pledging a swift resolution to the war, aims to mediate a ceasefire between Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin.
Issued on: 28/11/2024
By: NEWS WIRES
US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named staunch loyalist and retired general Keith Kellogg as his Ukraine envoy, charged with ending the two-and-a-half-year Russian invasion.
Trump campaigned on a platform of ushering a swift end to the Ukraine war, boasting that he would quickly mediate a ceasefire deal between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
But his critics have warned that the incoming Republican will likely leverage US military aid to pressure Kyiv into an agreement that left it ceding occupied territory permanently or agreeing not to join NATO.
"I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia," Trump said in a statement on social media.
"Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration."
A fixture on the cable news circuit, the 80-year-old national security veteran co-authored a paper earlier this year calling for Washington to leverage military aid as a means of pushing for peace talks.
Ukraine has received almost $60 billion from Washington for its armed forces since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, but with the more isolationist Trump taking over the White House, supporters fear the spigot will run dry.
"The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a cease-fire or peace agreement," Kellogg's research paper for the Trumpist America First Policy Institute think tank said.
"Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia."
Kellogg served in several positions during Trump's first term, including as chief of staff on the White House national security council and national security advisor to then-vice president Mike Pence.
Troop shortages
Kellogg told Voice of America at the Republican convention in July that Ukraine's options were "quite clear."
"If Ukraine doesn't want to negotiate, fine, but then accept the fact that you can have enormous losses in your cities and accept the fact that you will have your children killed, accept the fact that you don't have 130,000 dead, you will have 230,000-250,000," he said.
Trump's announcement came as the outgoing administration of Democrat Joe Biden was hosting a news conference to urge Ukraine to enlist more recruits by reducing the minimum age of conscription to 18 -- in line with the US benchmark.
Facing a much larger enemy with more advanced weapons and with stocks of volunteers dwindling, Ukraine is facing an "existential" recruitment crunch, a senior administration official told reporters.
"The simple truth is that Ukraine is not currently mobilising or training enough soldiers to replace their battlefield losses while keeping pace with Russia's growing military," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
He added that an additional 160,000 troops would be "on the low end" to fill out Ukraine's ranks -- but "a good start."
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later clarified that the White House would not make the huge flow of US military aid to Kyiv dependent on a conscription age change.
"We're absolutely going to keep sending Ukraine weapons and equipment. We know that's vital. But so, too, is manpower at this point," he told reporters.
The former Soviet republic's population has fallen by more than a quarter since its mid-1990s peak of 52 million, and authorities are desperate to shield the younger generation -- but a US congressional report in June estimated the average Ukrainian soldier is 40.
Zelensky signed a decree in April lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 but the move did not alleviate the chronic troop shortages, according to US officials.
(AFP)
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