THE bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli), often thought of as a stomach bug, is in fact the most common bacterial cause of potentially dangerous bloodstream infections -- and new data shows it is becoming more resistant to antibiotics.
A report published this week by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care shows E. coli heads the list of bacteria found to cause bloodstream infections, accounting for 4,106 of the 11,163 cases (36.8%) reported to a national surveillance system.
Nearly one in eight E. coli samples (12.7%) showed reduced susceptibility to the antibiotics ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin, the report said.
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