The MOSAR project (Mastering hOSpital Antimicrobial Resistance and its spread into the community) is the first European-scale work devoted to the control and study of antimicrobial resistance in hospitals. MOSAR is coordinated by the Institut national de la santé e de la recherche médicale (INSERM, Christian Brun-Buisson, unit 657 "Pharmaco-epidemiology and assessment of the impact of health products on populations"), and has about 20 public and private laboratories, and more than 50 hospitals in Europe and Israel. IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic is the only nationwide representative of the network, and has the participation of the group of Dr. Jordi Vila, head of the Bacteriology Unit of Hospital Clínic, and member of the Public health, epidemiology and international health group of IDIBAPS.

The appearance and spread of resistant bacteria is one of the most alarming events of the last fifty years. This problem is aggravated by the slow pace of design of innovative antibiotics during the last 20 years. This phenomenon is most visible in the framework of hospitals, but general population is also affected, since exchanges between both sectors are increasingly rapid and numerous. Research on the transmission dynamics of four types of microorganisms (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus, Acinetobacter spp. and extended-spectrum-lactamase-producing Enterobacter) will allow a design of strategies to control the appearance and spread of these multiresistant microorganisms.

MOSAR will structure the network in a platform of services in order to establish industrial collaborations with the large private institutions of this field. All MOSAR members are highly involved in the fight against bacterial resistances. MOSAR is a 5-year integrated project, i.e., aiming to emphasize the scientific results. It has been financed with 10 million Euro by the European Commission, within the Seventh Framework Programme for Research And Development (FPRD).

MOSAR's objectives are:

1. To fine tune and to validate fast diagnostic tools permitting the earliest possible identification of multiresistant bacteria and of resistance mechanisms. To identify the risk of propagation of these multiresistant bacteria and to establish strategies of prevention and of more suitable treatments.

2. To put into operation approximations to avoid the appearance and to contain spreading of these resistant bacteria in European hospitals, especially in the units more exposed to this problem (intensive care units, surgery and rehabilitation units).

3. To achieve a better understanding on why some resistant bacteria are easily propagated in hospitals, and be able to identify the epidemic capacities of circulating bacteria.

4. Finally, to conceive tools permitting a better adaptation of the strategies to control the transmission of these bacteria and the use of antibiotics.

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Further information please contact:

Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer
Marc de Semir, Head of Communication
Àlex Argemí, Sientific editor

www.idibaps.ub.edu

MOSAR website (soon available): mosar-sic

Contact: Àlex Argemí
IDIBAPS - Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer