A 49-year old woman was infected with CRE, or carbepemen-resistant enterobacteraceae. The patient was initially admitted because of a urinary tract infection. Speaking at a National Press Club luncheon in Washington D.C., Frieden said that the infection id resistant to colistin which is an antibiotic that is reserved for use against the toughest of bacteria termed “nightmare bacteria, ” Reuters reported.
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According to the CDC, at least 2 million people in the United States become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year and at least 23,000 people die annually because of the infections.
It’s the scenario US Health Officials have feared for decades, though many hoped would never actually present itself.
The findings of the study was reported on Thursday in a study appearing in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. The woman had not travelled in the five months before her infection.
The deadly superbug made news in November of 2015 after researchers from China and the United Kingdom found the bacteria in a small group of people in China, as well as in pigs and raw pork meat. LSU Health Shreveport takes precautions to stop spreading resistant bacteria.
Mcr-1 is essentially found on pieces of DNA called plasmids, which bacteria can exchange between themselves. The discovery “heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria”, the authors wrote in the study.
Here’s a quick look at the “superbug” and what mcr-1 is.
“It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently”, said director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr Tom Frieden, as quoted in The Guardian.
The study said continued surveillance to determine the true frequency of the mcr-1 gene in the USA was critical.
“Bocchini said “[We] wash our hands, to glove gown mask, whatever is appropriate for the patient we’re taking care of to reduce the likelihood or spread of bacteria in general but specifically resistant organisms.
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The researchers are now working to identify the most promising of the more than 400 new antibiotics they’ve discovered. “They are able to develeop resistance to antibiotics unfortunately much more quickly than we are able to make antibiotics to kill those bacteria”.
