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Alternative to antibiotics in wound care

Infected wounds

In developed countries, it has been estimated that 1 to 2 percent of the population will experience a chronic wound during their lifetime. The burden of chronic wounds and wound treatment is rapidly growing.[1] Wound infections can compromise the healing process and let wounds develop into chronic wounds, with a significant negative impact on health-related quality of life.[2,3] Even worse, they bear the risk of amputation and lethal sepsis.[4] Additionally, infected wounds provide a great burden to the healthcare system.[2,3]

It is of major importance to find the best strategy to prevent, diagnose and manage wound infections.

Medical Professional

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  • More than

    0%

    of chronic wounds are estimated to be infected.[5,6]

  • Up to

    0%

    of chronic wounds contain biofilm with a role in wound infection.[7,8,9,10]

Chronic wounds

Reduction and treatment of wound infection

Manage infected wounds covering all stages of the wound infection continuum 
wound infection continuum

Early intervention strategies for wound infection management

A thorough wound assessment is essential for preventing and treating wound infections and all types of complications that can accompany them.[13,14]  Proper diagnosis and product selection strategies can help you prevent and treat wound infections. 

Clinical evidence and interviews

Antimicrobial resistance - a global health risk

Over- and misuse of antibiotics in medicine are known to have mainly contributed to the problem. As a result, AMR emerges as an progressive risk for global public health and has been appraised as the highest health endangerment in the 21st century.[15,16]

antimicrobial resistance statistic

[1] Sen CK, Gordillo GM, Roy S, Kirsner R, Lambert L, Hunt TK, Gottrup F, Gurtner GC, Longaker MT. Human skin wounds: a major and snowballing threat to public health and the economy. Wound Repair Regen. 2009 Nov-Dec;17(6):763-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1524-475X.2009.00543.x. PMID: 19903300; PMCID: PMC2810192.

[2] Phillips CJ, Humphreys I, Fletcher J, Harding K, Chamberlain G, Macey S. Estimating the costs associated with the management of patients with chronic wounds using linked routine data. Int Wound J. 2016 Dec;13(6):1193-1197. doi: 10.1111/iwj.12443. Epub 2015 Mar 26. PMID: 25818405; PMCID: PMC7949824.

[3]Pu rwins S, Herberger K, Debus ES, Rustenbach SJ, Pelzer P, Rabe E, Schäfer E, Stadler R, Augustin M. Cost-of-illness of chronic leg ulcers in Germany. Int Wound J. 2010 Apr;7(2):97-102. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-481X.2010.00660.x. PMID: 20529149; PMCID: PMC7951196.

[4] Yammine K, El Alam A, Alqaysi B, Assi C. The internal pedal amputation as a salvage procedure in diabetic and ischemic foot infection. A meta-analysis. Foot Ankle Surg. 2022 Feb;28(2):159-165. doi: 10.1016/j.fas.2021.03.008. Epub 2021 Mar 16. PMID: 33752981

[5] Reitan RL, McBroom RM, Gilder RE. The Risk of Infection and Indication of Systemic Antibiotics in Chronic Wounds. Wounds. 2020 Jul;32(7):186-194. PMID: 33166266.

[6] Schollemann F, Kunczik J, Dohmeier H, Pereira CB, Follmann A, Czaplik M. Infection Probability Index: Implementation of an Automated Chronic Wound Infection Marker. J Clin Med. 2021 Dec 29;11(1):169. doi: 10.3390/jcm11010169. PMID: 35011910; PMCID: PMC8745914

[7] Malone M, Bjarnsholt T, McBain AJ, James GA, Stoodley P, Leaper D, Tachi M, Schultz G, Swanson T, Wolcott RD. The prevalence of biofilms in chronic wounds: a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data. J Wound Care. 2017 Jan 2;26(1):20-25. doi: 10.12968/jowc.2017.26.1.20. PMID: 28103163.

[8] Honorato-Sampaio K, Guedes AC, Lima VL, Borges EL. Bacterial biofilm in chronic venous ulcer. Braz J Infect Dis. 2014 May-Jun;18(3):350-1. doi: 10.1016/j.bjid.2014.01.003. Epub 2014 Mar 21. PMID: 24662137

[9] Hurlow J, Bowler PG. Acute and chronic wound infections: microbiological, immunological, clinical and therapeutic distinctions. J Wound Care. 2022 May 2;31(5):436-445. doi: 10.12968/jowc.2022.31.5.436. PMID: 35579319.

[10] Costerton JW, Stewart PS, Greenberg EP. Bacterial biofilms: a common cause of persistent infections. Science. 1999 May 21;284(5418):1318-22. doi: 10.1126/science.284.5418.1318. PMID: 10334980.

[11] Kingsley A. The wound infection continuum and its application to clinical practice. Ostomy Wound Manage. 2003 Jul;49(7A Suppl):1-7. PMID: 12883156.

[12] Deeth M. A closer look at the wound infection continuum. Br J Community Nurs. 2017 Dec 1;22(Sup12):S48-S50. doi: 10.12968/bjcn.2017.22.Sup12.S48. PMID: 29189070.

[13] Gottrup F. A specialized wound-healing center concept: importance of a multidisciplinary department structure and surgical treatment facilities in the treatment of chronic wounds. Am J Surg. 2004 May;187(5A):38S-43S. doi: 10.1016/S0002-9610(03)00303-9. PMID: 15147991.

[14] Falcone M, De Angelis B, Pea F, Scalise A, Stefani S, Tasinato R, Zanetti O, Dalla Paola L. Challenges in the management of chronic wound infections. J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2021 Sep;26:140-147. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2021.05.010. Epub 2021 Jun 16. PMID: 34144200.

[15] Christaki E, Marcou M, Tofarides A. Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria: Mechanisms, Evolution, and Persistence. J Mol Evol. 2020 Jan;88(1):26-40. doi: 10.1007/s00239-019-09914-3. Epub 2019 Oct 28. PMID: 31659373.

[16] Dhingra S, Rahman NAA, Peile E, Rahman M, Sartelli M, Hassali MA, Islam T, Islam S, Haque M. Microbial Resistance Movements: An Overview of Global Public Health Threats Posed by Antimicrobial Resistance, and How Best to Counter. Front Public Health. 2020 Nov 4;8:535668. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.535668. PMID: 33251170; PMCID: PMC7672122.

[17] Samreen, Ahmad I, Malak HA, Abulreesh HH. Environmental antimicrobial resistance and its drivers: a potential threat to public health. J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2021 Dec;27:101-111. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2021.08.001. Epub 2021 Aug 25. PMID: 34454098.

[18] Pires D, de Kraker MEA, Tartari E, Abbas M, Pittet D. ‘Fight antibiotic resistance—it’s in your hands’: call from the World Health Organization for 5th May 2017. Clin Infect Dis 2017;64:1780–3. doi: 10.1093/cid/cix226.

[19] Burki TK. Superbugs: An Arms Race Against Bacteria. Lancet Respir Med. 2018 Sep;6(9):668. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(18)30271-6. Epub 2018 Jun 21. PMID: 29937248.