Drug-resistant superbug hits U.S.

 Here's the thing about this. The longer the medical community world wide puts off a worldwide pandemic, the worst it is going to be when it hits the world. For example I expect eventually a superbug infection to take out 60% to 96% of the human race over a few years eventually. This is likely inevitable at some point sort of like it is inevitable to have another 1859 Carrington event. And like the Carrington event it is not if it is only WHEN?

 

Begin quote from:

Drug-resistant superbug hits U.S.

A dreaded superbug found for the first time in a U.S. woman

By Jen Christensen and Debra Goldschmidt, CNN

Updated 10:02 PM ET, Thu May 26, 2016

Antibiotics can be useful in treating some types of E. coli, but a Pennsylvania woman showed the presence of a rare kind of E. coli infection that is resistant to antibiotics.

Story highlights

• It is the first U.S. case of a bacterial infection that is resistant to all known antibiotics
• The CDC director warns that we may see more of these cases
• Dr. Tom Frieden urges the scientific community to develop new drugs

(CNN)The United States' first known case of a superbug that cannot be killed by a last resort-style kind of antibiotic was detailed in a report by the U.S. Department of Defense on Thursday.

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

We can protect the world from antibiotic resistance if we act now, experts say

A 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman showed the presence of a rare kind of E. coli infection that is resistant to antibiotics, even Colistin, which doctors sometimes use as a last resort when other antibiotics fail.

8 photos: Disease vs. drugs: How microbes are winning the war

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

The CDC and the Pennsylvania State Health Department mobilized immediately to investigate the case and to trace the contacts the patient may have had to see if the bacteria had spread.

The CDC also said it is looking for other potential cases in the health care facility the patient visited.

The bacteria have been identified in other infections outside the United States. Doctors saw cases in Europe, Canada and China.

Superbug cases on the rise 02:22

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.

Join the conversation

See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.

Frieden warned that although this is the first 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 beaten 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."