Background

For the last decades, bacteria with multiple resistances to antibiotics (multidrug-resistant organisms, MDRO) are on the rise globally. It is estimated that 700.000 people die each year from MDRO (WHO).

Aims

Few data have been published on the role of patients' gender in MDRO infection, indicating that males may be affected more often. The aim of our study was to determine risk factors and the odds of males with respect to respiratory infection with MDRO in comparison to females.

Methods

Surveillance data on MDRO-infections and colonisations collected from 2015 to 2020 in 86 hospitals of the Helios Group, Germany was analysed. We stratified patient?s data according to sample localisation (respiratory, bloodstream, urine, skin/soft tissue sample), age and gender.

Results

Out of 7.081.708 patients, 33.023 patients had a detected MDRO-infection of which 2.202 were from respiratory samples. The proportion of males (n=18.310) among the positive study population was higher than that of females (n=14.713; p<.001). Men had significantly more infections detected than women in all sample sites with increasing age, especially in respiratory samples (male:1596, female:606, p<.001). Highest incidence of MDRO respiratory infections were reported among males between 71-75 years (87.9/100.000 patients; OR .441; 95%CI 0.273-0.347). Mostly Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia Coli were found.

Conclusions

In our wide-ranged investigation, we showed that among patients with MDRO respiratory infections more males than females were found. The high vulnerability of men to MDRO should be emphasized and studied further.