Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit score: Unsplash/CC0 Public Area
After Russia’s full-scale invasion, hundreds of sufferers have been transferred from Ukraine to different European nations. A examine by the College of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki College Hospital confirmed that 8% of Ukrainian refugees had been hospitalized because of warfare accidents. Nearly 80% of them carried multidrug resistant (MDR) micro organism.
The examine discovered that non-hospitalized refugees carried no extra multidrug-resistant micro organism than beforehand proven for Finns who had traveled to Asia, Africa or South America.
“Concerns about the risk of antimicrobial resistance relate specifically to patients who have been hospitalized in conflict-affected areas. Patients with war injuries were found to carry highly resistant bacteria, which often caused serious infections,” says Professor Anu Kantele of the College of Helsinki, who led the examine.
The findings are revealed within the journal Scientific Microbiology and An infection.
Multidrug-resistant micro organism unfold throughout borders
Well being care programs in warfare zones are notably susceptible to the unfold of multidrug-resistant micro organism.
“Hospitals in such areas are overburdened, and effective infection prevention is impossible. These conditions facilitate the spread of difficult-to-treat bacteria,” notes Kantele.
Ukrainian refugees who had not been hospitalized overseas earlier than arriving in Finland had been clearly much less more likely to carry multidrug-resistant micro organism. They had been discovered to hold primarily ESBL-producing E. coli micro organism and, in particular person sufferers, MRSA micro organism.
“Ordinary citizens need not worry. The problem relates specifically to hospital settings,” emphasizes Doctoral Researcher Tuomas Aro, who makes a speciality of infectious illnesses.
The Finnish well being care system is ready to sort out the problem. At Finnish hospitals, sufferers beforehand hospitalized overseas are positioned in single rooms, with contact isolation measures in place and bacterial samples taken.
“It’s important to understand that the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance is no more common among ordinary refugees than among Finns after a trip to Asia, for instance,” says Kantele.
Extra data:
Tuomas Aro et al, Warfare on AMR: Excessive MDR carriage charges amongst war-injured Ukrainian refugees, Scientific Microbiology and An infection (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2025.07.010
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College of Helsinki
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Warfare-zone hospital sufferers discovered to hold multidrug-resistant micro organism (2025, August 11)
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