As part of the activities of the WCRC for Personalized Medicine, the specialists of the Laboratory for Innovative Methods of Microbiological Monitoring of the Institute of Experimental Medicine are studying the bacteria that cause a complicated course of a new coronavirus infection.
Patients hospitalized with a new coronavirus infection often develop a bacterial superinfection. In severe patients with COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation, hospital-acquired microorganisms may be fatal. The most dangerous bacterial strains with multidrug resistance are so-called «superbugs».
As part of the project «Development of approaches to monitor the development of epidemic strains of multidrug-resistant nosocomial infections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-epidemic period», the specialists studied the structure of the respiratory tract microbiota of patients in several COVID-19 treatment facilities. The study was carried out using modern molecular genetic methods and showed that nosocomial infection sites emerge in COVID hospitals and the spread of gram-negative bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii can reach epidemic outbreaks.
Research is underway to study the genome structure of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii. The goal is to identify the genetic traits that allow hospital superbugs to rapidly become antibiotic-resistant. The specialists of the WCRC for Personalized Medicine expect that the results obtained will allow doctors to more quickly detect the dangerous hospital bacteria and suppress them more effectively.