[The threat of the carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae in Spain: positioning report of the SEIMC study groups, GEIH and GEMARA].

The emergence and spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), as the current paradigm of extensive drug-resistance and multi-drug resistance to antibiotics, is a serious threat to patient health and public health. The increase in OXA-48- and VIM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates represents the greatest impact of CPE in Spain. This evidence has lead the members of a representative panel of the Spanish Study Groups of Nosocomial Infections and Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials of the Spanish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (GEIH/GEMARA-SEIMC) to make a position statement expressing the need for: (i) definitive and coordinated action by all health professionals and authorities involved, and (ii) an adaptation of health systems to facilitate their early control and minimize their impact.