CCMB Study Reveals Over 45% of Bacteria in Eye Infections Are Multidrug-Resistant
Clinical practice often begins with empirical therapy, where doctors prescribe antibiotics based on likely causes before lab results confirm the exact organism.
Hyderabad: More than 45 per cent of bacterial samples from eye infections showed multidrug resistance in a joint study by Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and a private eye institute. This has raised concerns about continued reliance on empirical antibiotic treatment and points to the need for microbiology-based diagnosis and hospital-level genomic surveillance.
The study, published in ‘Communications Biology’, examined patient samples from the hospital and found resistance across both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. Researchers reported the presence of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in eye infections.
Dr Vinay K. Nandicoori, CCMB Director, said, “To understand and solve a problem like antimicrobial resistance (AMR), it is essential for clinicians and scientists come together and contribute through their expertise. This is not a problem to be solved with model organisms but rather with real patient samples.”
“These findings are worrying because they can spread their AMR genes to other bacteria too. Also, these pathogens can infect other parts of our bodies,” said Dr Karthik Bharadwaj from CCMB.
Clinical practice often begins with empirical therapy, where doctors prescribe antibiotics based on likely causes before lab results confirm the exact organism. This study questions that reliance, as resistance levels reduce the chances of success for such first-line treatments.
Researchers used whole genome sequencing to study the bacteria in detail and identified new mutations and resistance-linked traits. The work combined clinical data from the institute with genomic and bioinformatics work at CCMB. According to them, hospitals need systems that connect microbiology testing with treatment decisions, alongside surveillance that tracks how resistance is changing across regions.
