Silvestris (Aiom): “Resistant infections cause almost 50% of deaths”

“Bacterial or fungal infections are the primary or associated cause of death in almost half of cancer patients, unfortunately. Some studies also tell us that, in patients” with cancer hospitalized “in intensive care, a good part of the infections are related to antibiotic-resistant germs”. This is how Nicola Silvestris, national secretary of Aiom (Italian Association of Medical Oncology) and director of the Complex Structure of Medical Oncology of the IRCCS Istituto tumori ‘Giovanni Paolo II’ in Bari, described “this clinical situation that does not only impact survival, but also the conditions and therefore the ‘timing’ of treatments: in some cases delaying them or preventing their start”, during the talk ‘Antimicrobial resistance. The challenge of investing in research’, promoted by Adnkronos.

Managing these clinical situations “has a fundamental importance, especially if we take into account the progress that we can achieve today in oncology – observes Silvestris – What we obtain with new drugs, with new therapeutic options, in terms of survival, risks being compromised by this type of complication”. To reduce the impact of infections from antibiotic-resistant germs in cancer patients there are some key words. “The first – lists the professor – is information. We must inform more and more and, in this case, patient associations play a fundamental role. We must then provide training, learn to collaborate between different specialists: the interaction between oncologists, infectious disease specialists and microbiologists is fundamental. Finally, let’s not forget the importance of the vaccination programs that Aiom has put in place also indicating them in some guidelines and which can, in some way – he concludes – help contain the phenomenon”.