Interesting & confusing signals here.
>>> First discovery, note what CDC's lab chief man says:
DALLAS (AP) -- The bacterium responsible for most hospital-related infections is close to becoming unstoppable, scientists say.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists confirmed that Staphylococcus aureus, also known as a staph infection, has for the first time defended itself from vancomycin, the last drug that can kill all its strains, The Dallas Morning News reported in a copyright story today.
The newly discovered strain, found in Japan, demonstrated an "intermediate" level of resistance to the antibiotic. That's higher than any level previously known for staph.
"We have a situation which is very worrisome," said Fred Tenover,
a microbiologist and laboratory chief of the CDC's hospital infections branch. "If we're climbing the ladder, we're almost to the roof."
>>> Second discovery, note what NIH DD says:
08/23 10:13 U.S. companies race to find drugs to kill superbugs
WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuter) - Drug companies are racing to develop the next class of antibiotics to fight the emerging new superbugs, but experts said microbes will soon mutate to resist new drugs, too.
They said news that an unidentified Michigan man had become infected with vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus drove home the urgency of taking on tough new bacteria.
"All of us have got to get busy and tackle the problem but it's not an immediate threat," said George Curlin, deputy director of the division of microbial and infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
"It doesn't look (as though) it's showing real aggressive virulence," he said. "I think we all have a little time to get on top of this."
>>> From an old MCDE press release:
Bacterial infections are a significant and growing medical problem. According to estimates from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the period 1980 to 1992, approximately two million hospital-acquired infections occur annually in the United States, accounting for more than eight million days of extended hospital stay and causing more
than $4.0 billion in additional health care costs each year. While overall per capita mortality rates declined in the U.S. from 1980 to 1992, the per capita mortality rate due to infectious diseases increased 58% over this period, making infectious disease the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
One of the key contributors to the increase in mortality and morbidity due to bacterial infections is the increasing prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria. |
