CRE superbug: The Centers for Disease Control issued a warning to medical professionals across the U.S. about CRE superbugs resistant to most types of antibiotics.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is warning to doctors across the country of rare superbugs resistant to nearly all types of antibiotics.
The CDC said that there has been an increase in Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) superbugs. These can resist carbapenem antibiotics, which are considered the most heavy-duty kinds.
There have been reports of 15 forms of the CRE superbug in since July 2012 in the United States. There are an overall 37 “unusual forms of CRE” types in the U.S., the CDC said, adding that reports are “still uncommon.”
“This increase highlights the need for U.S. healthcare providers to act aggressively to prevent the emergence and spread of these unusual CRE organisms,” reads a press release from the CDC this month.
The CDC said that most CRE infections “were isolated from patients who received overnight medical treatment outside of the United States.”
In a study published on Wednesday, Israeli researchers said that of the 97 patients who tested positive with CRE, it took them around 387 days on average to be finally tested negative for the bacteria. It was published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
A recent strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a type of CRE, spread through the National Institutes of Health hospital near Washington D.C., killing six people.
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