“Superbugs” and the very real threat of untreatable infections

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria mutate to “outsmart” or resist antibiotic medicine, making the bacterial infection more difficult for doctors to treat and cure with standard medications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2 million people are infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria every year, and more than 23,000 people die from these infections. While some bacteria become resistant to a particular antibiotic, other, more dangerous strains have grown resistant to almost every treatment option. This means that doctors must use stronger and less common antibiotics to treat these infections. But a recent discovery now has doctors concerned about the success of even these last-resort antibiotics. The appearance of a serious superbug In May, a woman in Pennsylvania became infected with a form of E. coli infection resistant to the drug colistin. Colistin is usually reserved for infections that don’t respond to the strongest antibiotics. Scientists from the Multidrug Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network (MSRN) at the Walter Reed Institute of Research (WRAIR) showed that a gene called mcr-1 was responsible for the bacteria’s resistance to colistin. MCR-1 is found on a plasmid, which is a portable piece of DNA that can replicate on its own. The presence of mcr-1 means that the bacteria can develop a resistance to colistin, weakening its effectiveness as a treatment. “This development is distressing b...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Drugs and Supplements Infectious diseases Source Type: news