Doctors found the resistant strain of E.coli in a Pennsylvania woman with a urinary tract infection.
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Reuters reports that in the United States, 23,000 people already die due to antibiotic resistance every year. This new bacteria was found in a Pennsylvania woman with a urinary tract infection. The colistin-resistant gene has since been found in parts of Europe and Canada. It said the superbug itself was first infected with a tiny piece of DNA called a plasmid, which passed along a gene called mcr-1 that confers resistance to colistin. Scientists believe this is its first appearance in the U.S. The patient hadn’t been out of the country within the past five months. Tests revealed the bacterial infection would be resistant to colistin, and the center sent the sample to MRSN for sequencing, which identified the colistin-resistant gene, mrc-1.
“(This) heralds the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant bacteria”, the study said. If this happens then there will be no medicine/antibiotic available to treat infected patients. This latest finding is much more worrisome because the mutation has arisen in a way that allows it to be easily shared with other bacteria.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) said his administration was taking the discovery “very seriously” and promised to “take necessary actions to prevent mcr-1 from becoming a widespread problem with potentially serious consequences”.
“The take home message is we all have to think about using antibiotics wisely, because it’s a limited resource”.
This particular E. coli strain has displayed resistance to colistin, which has been called our antibiotic “of last resort”.
The potential for the superbug to spread from animals to people is a major concern, Dr Cassell added.
The first ever detection of the “nightmare bacteria” in the United States has set the alarm bells ringing in the healthcare community.
Macquarie University Professor Michael Gillings said in a statement on Friday that while antibiotics have saved countless number of lives, many have abused them.
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“Antibiotic resistance rarely, if ever, stays in one place, so now that we’ve seen this bacteria, and we expect to see it elsewhere in the United States”, said Jackson.
