Haemophilus influenzae global epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns including ampicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanate resistance based on β-lactamase production, 2013–2022
BMC Infectious Diseases·
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12879-025-11438-9
- PMID
- 41131463
- PMCID
- PMC12548142
- OpenAlex
- W4415460887
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The findings indicate geographic variation in H. influenzae antimicrobial resistance and differences associated with beta-lactamase production. The authors state that these results support reliable susceptibility testing and resistance-containment efforts, while the abstract reports caution regarding clarithromycin in settings with high resistance.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study assessed global antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in Haemophilus influenzae, including associations between beta-lactamase production and resistance to beta-lactam and other antibiotics, using data from 2013 to 2022.
Study design
This was a retrospective analysis of phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility and demographic data from the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program. Testing used broth microdilution, beta-lactamase production was assessed with a nitrocefin test, and CLSI and EUCAST breakpoints were applied.
Population and setting
The analysis included 13,869 H. influenzae isolates collected between 2013 and 2022 from more than 150 medical centers in 51 countries. Most isolates were from the United States, and the groups most represented as affected were males younger than 18 years and people older than 65 years.
Main findings
Beta-lactamase production was identified in 24.1% of isolates, with resistance differing by region. Asia and the West Pacific had the highest reported resistance rates, including 9.4% beta-lactamase-negative ampicillin-resistant isolates and 10.9% beta-lactamase-positive amoxicillin-clavulanate-resistant isolates. Ceftriaxone and piperacillin-tazobactam showed the highest in vitro susceptibility under the reported breakpoint systems, while beta-lactamase-producing isolates generally had lower susceptibility to several agents but higher fluoroquinolone susceptibility than beta-lactamase-negative isolates.
Public-health relevance
The findings indicate geographic variation in H. influenzae antimicrobial resistance and differences associated with beta-lactamase production. The authors state that these results support reliable susceptibility testing and resistance-containment efforts, while the abstract reports caution regarding clarithromycin in settings with high resistance.
Important limitations
The supplied material does not report explicit study limitations. The dataset is a surveillance-program sample from participating medical centers, with most isolates from the United States, so its distribution may not represent all H. influenzae infections or all locations; this summary is also limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata and requires the original paper for decision-grade interpretation.
GIDS interpretation
The article is discoverable in the supplied metadata under Haemophilus influenzae, antimicrobial resistance, diagnostics, surveillance, and treatment. It provides article-level context on reported resistance patterns but does not by itself establish or confirm any live surveillance signal.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 10 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.