Question

What are the impacts of E. coli on the US healthcare delivery system and in Georgia in terms of financial burden of the monies spent or costs for treatment?

Answer 1

Escherichia coli is model organism which is intensively studied, best understood due to it’s hardiness, versatility, broad palate and ease of handling. It is a highly diverse organism with a complex, multi-faceted niche in the wild. It has been tremendously valuable as a de-contextualized organism not only in USA and Georgia but also throughout the world. The multitier healthcare system of the USA has several major flaws. High costs and uncertain quality of care indicate that this system is no longer practical.

Early human infant colonization by E. coli has been declining in the US and in other western nations as rates of caesarean delivery have increased and hospital hygiene has continued to improve.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimations four and 33 million cases of gastrointestinal illness associated with public drinking water systems in the USA every year. It does not include the number of illnesses due to private water sources, recreational water sources, or illnesses other than diarrhea. When there are outbreaks of E. coli , the recovery and repair costs are large. E. coli is the leading cause of bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by Gram-negative bacteria.

In last 20 years striking increase in the number of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli are seen. Disaster to provide prompt, effective antimicrobial therapy for bloodstream infections caused by ESBL-producing E. coli is associated with increased mortality and longer hospital stays resulting in more burden on economy.

Cost data obtained from the hospital accounting system is as follows Compared with the 107 (79.8%) adequately treated patients, the 27 (20.1%) who received IIAT had a higher proportion of ESBL BSIs (74.0% versus 15.8%), longer (+6 days) and more costly (+EUR 4,322.00). Compared with the 97 non-ESBL infections, the 37 (27.6%) ESBL BSIs were also associated with longer (+7 days) and more costly (+EUR 5,026.00) post-BSI-onset hospital stays and increased 21-day mortality (29.7% versus 6.1%).

In USA and Georgia medical examination costs, total drug costs and anti-infective drug costs due to the infection of E. coli patients is significantly higher than other infected patients. A Georgia E. coli outbreak caused severe illness, including Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.