Deadly Superbug is now spreading across the country and officials express their concerns that it might soon be too late to stop this new family of antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as CRE
A new antibiotic-resistant super bug called Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is raising concern among health officials and scientific community members. CRE can mutate overtime and create new drug-resistant bugs since it is spread by DNA that’s mobile between various species of bacteria.
This superbug first hit University of Virginia Medical Center four years ago after the bacteria fought all the antibiotic drugs that were given by medical doctors to a middle aged man. The man died three months later, but the bacteria didn’t. The bacteria striked again and again in different forms and spread from hospital to hospital, now the superbug which has stalked US hospitals and nursing homes remains a significant threat to many lives and, at the moment, no antibiotics can defeat it.
The main concern is that it may be too late to stop this deadly superbug from continuously spreading across the country through the hospitals and nursing homes. In fact, many hospitals and in particular most nursing homes lack the necessary resources, skills or facilities to effectively identify CRE and isolate patients who are carrying this superbug immediately.
Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has held public announcements which he mentioned that these are a nightmare family of superbugs that are resistant to nearly all antibiotics and can spread their antibiotic resistant to other bacteria. He also expressed his concern that these superbugs have high mortality rate among seniors and have been killing them with serious infections.
Frieden also mentioned that the superbug is mostly common in US hospitals and nursing homes and it has not been found in other communities so far. But if this superbug isn’t contained soon enough; it can mutate and affect other bacteria to become antibiotic resistant and soon many common infections might become untreatable.
Frieden also mentioned that for the moment the superbug is striking people with lower immune system and it does not easily transfer like strep throat from people to people. He also said in 2012 nearly 200 hospitals had at least one of the infections that was caused by CRE.
The associate chief medical officer at the University of Pennsylvania, Neil Fishman also suggested that doctors are now considering the use of older antibiotics that are outdated and can damage kidneys but what choice do they have since the new antibiotics no longer work.
Costi Sifri, infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at the University of Virginia mentioned earlier how these superbugs are a huge threat to the safety of patients and unfortunately nothing seems to slow down their rate of spreading. He further elaborated that when the age of antibiotics end, the doctors will look for other alternatives to remove or cut off the infected tissues or parts which could mean that the country is entering to “post-antibiotic era”.
Also, USA Today magazine reported, in early Novermber, that CRE infections are mostly common in New York, Chicago, LA and smaller cases have been reported in 42 states other states including Oregon, Minnesota, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Frieden, the director of CDC now feels it’s time to warn the public that the country has a small window of opportunity to contain the superbug before it’s too late. He also continued that the greatest threat from this superbug is its ability to share its gene with other common bacteria such as E.Coli and become antibiotic resistant. He mentioned that if that is the case, millions of other common conditions that affect many Americans including pneumonia, diarrhea, urinary tract infections and respiratory problems become incurable.
Frieden discussed that it’s not very often that medical professional tell him that they have an urgent medical problem and need to save lives but in this case this what's happening. So the hospitals need to identify patients with CRE and take precaution like wearing masks and gloves to stop spreading the diseases. He also continued that the hospitals should remove devices that might spread the superbugs ASAP. Also the hospital personals should remind patients and their families to wash their hands more frequently.
Sara Cosgrove, the board of Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America also mentioned that excessive use of antibiotics and failure to maintain a good personal hygiene (like washing hands frequently) have lead to development of superbugs like this.
This is a serious issue since there is a small chance that any drugs could be effective against CRE in the upcoming years because there is little or no profit in developing new antibiotics that bacteria become quickly resistant against them. That might explain the rush and interest of the US military for increasing the purchase of colloidal silver in the last few months. The US military has increased the purchase of colloidal silver to 1000 gallons a day. The fact is that despite all the deceptive advertising against colloidal silver by big pharma and their financial beneficiary, when synthetic antibiotics fail, natural antibiotics like silver might be the only cure that’s left against superbugs like CRE.
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