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‘Nightmare’ drug-resistant bacteria CRE found in PA woman

The United States’ first known case of a superbug that cannot be killed by any existing antibiotic was announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Defens...
Centers for Disease Control Sign

The United States’ first known case of a superbug that cannot be killed by any existing antibiotic was announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden announced the case at the National Press Club in Washington.

A 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman developed (PDF) a carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, infection. It’s a rare infection but one that Frieden labeled “a nightmare bacteria.”

It’s resistant to every known antibiotic, even Colistin, which doctors sometimes use as a last resort when other antibiotics fail.

The woman went to a clinic in Pennsylvania, and a sample was forwarded to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. No other details were available, including how the woman became infected. She has not traveled outside the United States within the past five months.

Governor Tom Wolf today issued a statement about the emergence of a case of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (mcr-1) in Pennsylvania:

“We have learned about a human case of mcr-1 in a Pennsylvania resident, and my administration, through the Department of Health, immediately began working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the United States Department of Defense (DOD), to coordinate an appropriate and collaborative response between federal, state, and local entities. We are taking the emergence of this resistance gene very seriously and we will take necessary actions to prevent mcr-1 from becoming a widespread problem with potentially serious consequences. The safety of Pennsylvanians is our utmost priority.”

The bacteria have been identified in other infections outside the United States. Doctors saw a case in the United Kingdom in 2008 and cases in Italy and China.

CRE infections are incredibly difficult to treat and can quickly become deadly. One report suggests that this kind of infection can result in the deaths of half the patients who become infected.

Antibiotic resistance has become a growing problem in this country. The World Health Organization has warned that it is one of the biggest threats to global health today.

Frieden warned that although this is the first CRE case in the United States, we should expect to see more such superbugs in the near future. Frieden, who often warns doctors against overuse of antibiotics, urged scientists to develop new drugs quickly.

Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with other kinds of bacteria that can’t be beat with most antibiotics, and at least 23,000 people die each year as a result of those infections, according to the CDC.

“The medicine cabinet is empty for some patients,” Frieden said. “It is the end of the road unless we act urgently.”

 

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