Travel-acquired ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae: impact of colonization at individual and community level

Background: Antibiotic resistance is a rapidly increasing global emergency that calls for action from all of society. Intestinal multidrugresistant (MDR) bacteria have spread worldwide with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) -producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE) as the most prevalent type. The millions of travelers annually visiting regions with poor hygiene contribute substantially to this spread. Our review explores the underlying data and discusses the consequences of the colonization.

Methods: PubMed was searched for relevant literature between January 2010 and August 2016. We focused on articles reporting (1) the rate of ESBL-PE acquisition in a group of travelers recruited before/after international travel, (2) fecal carriage of ESBL-PE as explored by culture and, for part of the studies, (3) analysis of factors predisposing to colonization.

Results: We reviewed a total of 16 studies focusing on travel-acquired ESBL-PE. The acquisition rates reveal that 2070% of visitors to (sub)tropical regions get colonized by ESBL-PE. The main risk factors predisposing to colonization during travel are destination, travelers diarrhea, and antibiotic use.

Conclusions: While most of those colonized remain asymptomatic, acquisition of ESBL-PE may have consequences both at individual and community level. We discuss current efforts to restrict the spread.