New research suggests a worrying number of people in China may be infected with bacteria resistant to an antibiotic used as a last resort. Researchers examined more than 17,000 samples from patients with infections of common bacteria found in the gut, in two hospitals in China’s Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, over eight years. About 1 per cent of those samples were resistant to colistin, often considered the last option in antibiotics. The study, published Friday in journal, is one of the first to document the extent of drug-resistant infections in more than one Chinese province. For decades, mainland China has used colistin in its agriculture industry to speed animals’ growth, but the drug was not used in people. Scientists say the latest work is further evidence that overuse in animals can spread to people. Chinese officials earlier this year approved colistin for use in hospitals, raising fears that it could worsen the resistance problem. “It will be very important to ration its use so that it’s only used when absolutely nothing else will work,” said Mark Enright, a professor of medical microbiology at Manchester Metropolitan University, who was not part of the research.
