in-cyprus 31 March 2025 - by Marilena Panayi
Cyprus has the highest rates of hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance in the European Union, according to the latest European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report.
One in seven hospitalised patients in Cyprus develops a hospital-acquired infection during their stay, while the country leads in excessive antibiotic use within hospitals, particularly before and after surgical procedures.
“I see women with recurrent urinary tract infections in my office daily. The antibiotics they take prove incapable of targeting the bacteria causing their problems,” said Konstantinos Tsioutis, scientific advisor to the European Commission for Infection Control.
The ECDC data shows Cyprus holds the highest percentage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Europe. In 2019, Cyprus recorded 6.9 MRSA cases per 100,000 population, with a target to reduce this to 5.6 cases by 2030.
Instead, cases have increased to 15.5 per 100,000 in 2023, representing a 126% rise.
Across Europe, antimicrobial resistance caused 35,000 deaths in 2020. Experts estimate that without necessary interventions, by 2050, microbial resistance could cause more deaths than cancer.
The consequences for patients are severe, according to multiple case studies. One 60-year-old patient described taking antibiotics from a young age for recurrent urinary tract infections until the medications completely lost effectiveness, significantly impacting her quality of life.
Other cases include an elderly patient who developed resistant Staphylococcus infection after abdominal surgery, requiring prolonged antibiotic treatment and experiencing diabetes complications.
Another patient with a knee replacement developed MRSA infection, requiring multiple surgeries including eventual removal of all implanted materials.
“Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be winning this battle,” Tsioutis told philenews.
“We see increasingly resistant bacteria infecting our patients, creating significant problems not only in finding appropriate treatment but also in the effectiveness of efforts to prevent their transmission to other patients”.
Antibiotic consumption in Cyprus has fluctuated in recent years. In 2019, Cyprus prescribed 30.1 defined daily doses of antibiotics per 1,000 inhabitants per day.
This decreased during pandemic restrictions to 28.9 in 2020 and 25.1 in 2021, but jumped to 33.5 in 2022 when restrictions were lifted.
Tsioutis noted that patients often consult physicians of specialties not appropriate in dealing with their medical issue, leading to incorrect antibiotic use and perpetuating the cycle of resistance.
“These infections require patience and long-term monitoring, but also courage from the doctor to use newer alternative treatments,” Tsioutis explained, adding that without proper measures, deaths from antimicrobial resistance will continue increasing annually.
