Growing carbapenem resistance in South Korea with long-term care facilities as reservoirs

Abstract

Abstract South Korean CRE notifications more than doubled between 2020 and 2024, with no inflection in the trajectory. Imipenem resistance in long-term care facilities reached 52.3% for Klebsiella pneumoniae and a 12.93-fold higher risk ratio than small/medium hospitals for Escherichia coli . Current surveillance cannot identify individual facility reservoirs, requiring structural reform.