Some types of bacteria have developed the ability to be resistant to many commonly used antibiotics by producing an enzyme called ESBL.
This enzyme blocks the effect of some antibiotics making the bacteria resistant.
Not only are they resistant, but ESBL producing bacteria can also pass on this resistance to other species of bacteria.
The types of bacteria that most commonly develop this ability include: -
These bacteria are known as Gram-negative bacilli. If these bacteria cause an infection, for example, urinary tract infection, pneumonia or surgical wound infection, they can be very difficult to treat as they are resistant to many antibiotics. Source isolation, environmental cleaning and strict hand hygiene are necessary to prevent the spread of ESBL producing bacteria.