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U.S Sees 1st Case Of Bacteria Resistant To ALL Antibiotics. by BOLAUWA: 5:15pm On May 27, 2016 |
U.S. sees first case of bacteria
resistant to all antibiotics
By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot
(Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Thursday reported the
first case in the country of a patient with an infection
resistant to all known antibiotics, and expressed grave
concern that the superbug could pose serious danger for
routine infections if it spreads.
"We risk being in a post-antibiotic world," said Thomas
Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, referring to the urinary tract infection of a 49-
year-old Pennsylvania woman who had not travelled within
the prior five months.
Frieden, speaking at a National Press Club luncheon in
Washington, D.C., said the infection was not controlled even
by colistin, an antibiotic that is reserved for use against
"nightmare bacteria."
The infection was reported Thursday in a study appearing in
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of
the American Society for Microbiology. It said the superbug
itself had first been infected with a tiny piece of DNA called
a plasmid, which passed along a gene called mcr-1 that
confers resistance to colistin.
"(This) heralds the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant
bacteria," said the study, which was conducted by the Walter
Reed National Military Medical Center. "To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first report of mcr-1 in the USA."
The patient visited a clinic on April 26 with symptoms of a
urinary tract infection, according to the study, which did not
describe her current condition. Authors of the study could
not immediately be reached for comment.
The study said continued surveillance to determine the true
frequency of the gene in the United States is critical.
"It is dangerous and we would assume it can be spread
quickly, even in a hospital environment if it is not well
contained," said Dr. Gail Cassell, a microbiologist and senior
lecturer at Harvard Medical School.
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But she said the potential speed of its spread will not be
known until more is learned about how the Pennsylvania
patient was infected, and how present the colistin-resistant
superbug is in the United States and globally.
"MEDICINE CABINET IS EMPTY FOR SOME"
In the United States, antibiotic resistance has been blamed
for at least 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths annually.
The mcr-1 gene was found last year in people and pigs in
China, raising alarm.
The potential for the superbug to spread from animals to
people is a major concern, Cassell said.
For now, Cassell said people can best protect themselves
from it and from other bacteria resistant to antibiotics by
thoroughly washing their hands, washing fruits and
vegetables thoroughly and preparing foods appropriately.
Experts have warned since the 1990s that especially bad
superbugs could be on the horizon, but few drugmakers
have attempted to develop drugs against them.
Frieden said the need for new antibiotics is one of the more
urgent health problems, as bugs become more and more
resistant to current treatments. "The more we look at drug
resistance, the more concerned we are," Frieden added. "The
medicine cabinet is empty for some patients. It is the end of
the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently."
Overprescribing of antibiotics by physicians and in hospitals
and their extensive use in food livestock have contributed to
the crisis. More than half of all hospitalized patients will get
an antibiotic at some point during their stay. But studies
have shown that 30 percent to 50 percent of antibiotics
prescribed in hospitals are unnecessary or incorrect,
contributing to antibiotic resistance.
Many drugmakers have been reluctant to spend the money
needed to develop new antibiotics, preferring to use their
resources on medicines for cancer and rare diseases that
command very high prices and lead to much larger profits.
In January, dozens of drugmakers and diagnostic
companies, including Pfizer (PFE.N), Merck & Co (MRK.N),
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L),
signed a declaration calling for new incentives from
governments to support investment in development of
medicines to fight drug-resistant superbugs.
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Additional reporting by Bill
Berkrot; Editing by Bernard Orr) |
Re: U.S Sees 1st Case Of Bacteria Resistant To ALL Antibiotics. by xtgozie(m): 5:27pm On May 27, 2016 |
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