US woman dies of infection resistant to all 26 available antibiotics

[BubbaJack]

Miami (AFP) - A US woman has died from an infection that was resistant to all 26 available antibiotics, health officials said this week, raising new concerns about the rise of dangerous superbugs.

The woman, who was in her 70s, died in Nevada in September, and had recently been hospitalized in India with fractured leg bones, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The cause of death was sepsis, following infection from a rare bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which is resistant to all antibiotics available in the United States.

The specific strain of CRE, known as Klebsiella pneumoniae, was isolated from one of her wounds in August.

Tests were negative for the mcr-1 gene -- a great concern to health experts because it makes bacteria resistant to the antibiotic of last resort, colistin.

It was unclear how the woman's infection acquired resistance.

Experts said she had been treated repeatedly in India during the last two years for a femur fracture and hip problems, most recently in June 2016.

Once the bacteria was identified in Nevada, the patient was isolated to prevent the infection from spreading in the hospital.

US woman dies of infection resistant to all 26 available antibiotics

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

Scares me. Both of my kids are allergic to quite a few antibiotics, and the oldest is allergic to every one that's ever been tried. Eek.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

That is why factory-farming's use of antibiotics must be curtailed. Colistin is rarely used in humans but is given freely to farm animals leading to increased resistance. We are entering dark days where abuse of antibiotics by both humans and the agricultural sector will push us back a hundred years.

We don't need to have antibiotics for each sniffle. They don't work for viruses.
We mustn't just prophylactically give it to our animals because we leave them in deplorable and disease-prone overcrowding. This is deleterious to human health in the long run.

This is very sad, but I expect more and more of this in future. This isn't just an Infectious Disease issue, but an issue of the failure of public health, education and agriculture.
At the moment such infections are at least still nosocomial mostly, but it is only a matter of time before they become community-acquired and then we'll be back to the days of incurable sepsis epidemics.

 

[Radrook]

That is why factory-farming's use of antibiotics must be curtailed. Colistin is rarely used in humans but is given freely to farm animals leading to increased resistance. We are entering dark days where abuse of antibiotics by both humans and the agricultural sector will push us back a hundred years.

We don't need to have antibiotics for each sniffle. They don't work for viruses.
We mustn't just prophylactically give it to our animals because we leave them in deplorable and disease-prone overcrowding. This is deleterious to human health in the long run.

This is very sad, but I expect more and more of this in future. This isn't just an Infectitious Disease issue, but an issue of the failure of public health, education and agriculture.
At the moment such infections are at least still nosocomial mostly, but it is only a matter of time before they become community-acquired and then we'll be back to the days of incurable sepsis epidemics.

As one of my former employers who fired me for asking for a small raise said the day before dismissing me:

"Money will suddenly make people do drastic things!"

There is no way that these companies will place human health above profit.