Bad bug, no drugs: The real end of antibiotics?

Follow me on Twitter @JohnRossMD In September 2016, a woman in her 70s died of septic shock in Reno, Nevada, from an infection which was fully resistant to 26 different antibiotics. She had spent much of the previous two years in India, where she was treated for a hip fracture. The hip became infected, and after several more hospital stays, she returned to her home in Nevada. Within weeks, she was desperately ill, and back in a hospital in Reno. A sample from her hip wound revealed a strain of the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae which was not sensitive to any antibiotics. It was even resistant to a drug called colistin, an old-fashioned, somewhat toxic, and rarely used antibiotic that is considered the last line of defense against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Before she died, the patient was isolated and kept in a private room. There is no indication that her resistant bacteria had spread to other patients in the hospital or in the Reno area. How these bacteria outsmart antibiotics The Klebsiella bacteria that killed her had a powerful enzyme that breaks down antibiotics, known as New Dehli metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM), because it was first found in a patient who had travelled to that Indian city. Indian politicians have disputed the link between their capital and a deadly superbug, and the local tourism board and chamber of commerce probably aren’t too thrilled about it either. In any case, it is probably unfair to focus too much on the Indian origin of this resistant bac...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Drugs and Supplements Health Infectious diseases Source Type: blogs