ArticlePloS one2018
The impact of antibiotic use on transmission of resistant bacteria in hospitals: Insights from an agent-based model.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The neglected model validation of antimicrobial resistance transmission models - a systematic review.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2025Pooled it
- Antimicrobial resistance in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet. Microbe · 2023Pooled it
- Combatting a Tobramycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit: the impact of hygiene intervention and antibiotic substitution.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Screening Strategies to Control Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: An Agent-Based Model.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Antimicrobial Resistance: How Can We Overcome the Problem?Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Risk factors for the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in patients with head and neck infections: a retrospective analysis.Frontiers in oral health · 2026Article
- The prevalence and risk of mortality associated with antimicrobial resistance within nosocomial settings-a global systematic review and meta-analysis of over 20,000 patients.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- A Four-Year Study of Antibiotic Resistance, Prevalence and Biofilm-Forming Ability of Uropathogens Isolated from Community- and Hospital-Acquired Urinary Tract Infections in Southern Italy.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- N-acetyl cysteine as an additive to bone cement against pathogens involved in periprosthetic joint infections.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Article
- Procalcitonin Level and Antimicrobial Resistance among Microbial Coinfection in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients.Reports of biochemistry & molecular biology · 2025Article
- Multicomponent Approaches to Reduce Multidrug-Resistant Organisms in Critical Care: Determining the Ideal Strategy.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2024Review
- Healthcare as a driver, reservoir and amplifier of antimicrobial resistance: opportunities for interventions.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2024Review
- Using contact network dynamics to implement efficient interventions against pathogen spread in hospital settings: A modelling study.PLoS medicine · 2024Article
- Characterization of the resistome and predominant genetic lineages of Gram-positive bacteria causing keratitis.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2024Article
- Phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of Polygala sadebeckiana Gürke extracts on bacterial isolates from Wound samples of patients with "Shimetere".BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Article
- Review of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes within the one health framework.Infection ecology & epidemiology · 2024Review
- An agent-based model on antimicrobial de-escalation in intensive care units: Implications on clinical trial design.PloS one · 2024Article
- Novel Iron Chelators, Super-Polyphenols, Show Antimicrobial Effects against CariogenicAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Modelling antimicrobial resistance transmission to guide personalized antimicrobial stewardship interventions and infection control policies in healthcare setting: a pilot study.Scientific reports · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Extensive antibiotic use over the years has led to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB). Antibiotic resistance poses a major threat to public health since for many infections antibiotic treatment is no longer effective. Hospitals are focal points for ARB spread. Antibiotic use in hospitals exerts selective pressure, accelerating the spread of ARB. We used an agent-based model to explore the impact of antibiotics on the transmission dynamics and to examine the potential of stewardship interventions in limiting ARB spread in a hospital. Agents in the model consist of patients and health care workers (HCW). The transmission of ARB occurs through contacts between patients and HCW and between adjacent patients. In the model, antibiotic use affects the risk of transmission by increasing the vulnerability of susceptible patients and the contagiousness of colonized patients who are treated with antibiotics. The model shows that increasing the proportion of patients receiving antibiotics increases the rate of acquisition non-linearly. The effect of antibiotics on the spread of resistance depends on characteristics of the antibiotic agent and the density of antibiotic use. Antibiotic's impact on the spread increases when the bacterial strain is more transmissible, and decreases as resistance prevalence rises. The individual risk for acquiring ARB increases in parallel with antibiotic density both for patients treated and not treated with antibiotics. Antibiotic treatment in the hospital setting plays an important role in determining the spread of resistance. Interventions to limit antibiotic use have the potential to reduce the spread of resistance, mainly by choosing an agent with a favorable profile in terms of its impact on patient's vulnerability and contagiousness. Methods to measure these impacts of antibiotics should be developed, standardized, and incorporated into drug development programs and approval packages.
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