But officials fear that if the resistance spreads to other bacteria, the country may soon see germs impervious to all antibiotics. So far, the United States has not. It is unknown how she contracted the bacteria.
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Antibiotic resistance happens if the bacterium change and are able to fool the antibiotic by “hiding” or by pushing the drug out of the cell.
The 49-year-old woman in Pennsylvania was infected with Escherichia coli that carried a gene for resistance against the antibiotic colistin.
Bacteria that were discovered in a woman in Pennsylvania with a urinary tract infection, were resistant to a powerful last-resort antibiotic called Colistin. This includes Colistin, which is an antibiotic used as the last possible chance on risky types of superbugs when other antibiotics do not work.
Whether or not the nation’s first colistin-resistant infection signals the end of the antibiotic era, doctors and public health officials are still concerned that the most powerful antibiotic in the drug arsenal may no longer be up to the challenge of superbugs.
“Even in my practice, I’ll start seeing situations where the antibiotics we’ve used for many years that usually will treat that infection, more situations where there might not be good oral antibiotics I can give”, added Dr. Torrey.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also found one strain of Colistin-resistant E. coli in a single sample of a pig intestine, according to a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services. Tests confirming the woman’s infection were done by Walter Reed National Military Medical Center researchers, who reported on the case. Yet this particular strain of E. coli is resistant to all antibiotics. The World Health Organization warns that superbugs are the biggest threats to the health of world today.
“The medicine cabinet is empty for some patients”. However, according CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, it may have happened because of an overuse of antibiotics in which, “the bacteria become smart, and they develop a resistance”. Ask your doctor if antibiotics before elective procedures and surgery is necessary and proven to cut down on infections.
It is rare, the Pennsylvania case is the first recorded case in the United States.
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With its brand new status, there is so much more we have yet to know or learn about the superbug and what it means for doctors, our immune systems, and the current state of antibiotics.
