Göte Swedberg research group

Mutations and genetic transfer contribute to evolution and stable persistence of drug resistant microorganisms

Resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics in bacteria causing infections in Ethiopia.

The beta-lactam group of antibiotics has been and still is valuable for treatment of infectious diseases. The original drugs in this group were the penicillins, later developments have led to e.g. cephalosporins and carbapenems. Especially the carbapenems have been of great value since the development of resistance towards these drugs have been slower than development of resistance against penicillins and cephalosporins. Unfortunately, some bacteria, especially Pseudomonas and Klebsiella, have lately shown a tendency towards resistance development. The present project is carried out by Ethiopian PhD students, who has now collected bacterial isolates from infections in several Ethiopian hospitals, where species determination and drug resistance tests are performed. Most samples have now been analysed with whole genome sequence in order to map the most important genes that cause resistance development in Ethiopian isolates and compare with data from other countries.