title: Carbapenemase reports from the Balkans: a systematic review.
abstract: The spread of carbapenemase-producing bacteria constitutes a worldwide problem of major importance to public health. The detection of these enzymes is often reported by most European countries and infection control measures are implemented in order to limit their dissemination. Despite the strong evidence indicating the Balkans as a reservoir for carbapenemase-encoding genes, especially for NDM-1, data published in the English literature seem to be scarce for many of the Balkan countries. We systematically reviewed studies on carbapenemase-producing bacteria from each country of the Balkan Peninsula and correlated them with foreign reports on carbapenemase detection due to patient transfer from the Balkans to the rest of Europe.
authors: Department of Clinical Microbiology, St. Paul General Hospital of Thessaloniki; Department of Internal Medicine, St. Demetrios General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors: Georgios
authors: G
authors: Meletis
authors: Department of Clinical Microbiology, St. Paul General Hospital of Thessaloniki; Department of Internal Medicine, St. Demetrios General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors: Efstathios
authors: E
authors: Oustas
authors: Department of Clinical Microbiology, St. Paul General Hospital of Thessaloniki; Department of Internal Medicine, St. Demetrios General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Bagkeri
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D063368:Balkan Peninsula / Q000453:epidemiology; D005060:Europe; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011634:Public Health; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001618:beta-Lactamases; C063912:carbapenemase