A Nevada woman has died from an infection resistant to all available antibiotics in the United States, public health officials report.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the woman\u2019s condition was deemed incurable after being tested against 26 different antibiotics.
Though this isn\u2019t the first case of pan-resistant bacteria in the U. S., at this time it is still uncommon. Still, experts note that antibiotic resistance is a growing health concern globally and call the newly reported case \u201ca wake up call.\u201d
\u201cThis is the latest reminder that yes, antibiotic resistance is real,\u201d Dr. James Johnson, a professor specializing in infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School, told CBS News. \u201cThis is not some future, fantasized armageddon threat that maybe will happen after our lifetime. This is now, it\u2019s real, and it\u2019s here.\u201d
According to the report, the woman from Washoe County was in her 70s and had recently returned to America after an extended trip to India. She had been hospitalized there several times before being admitted to an acute care hospital in Nevada in mid-August.
Doctors discovered the woman was infected with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) , which is a family of germs that CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden has called \u201cnightmare bacteria\u201d due to the danger it poses for spreading antibiotic resistance.
The woman had a specific type of CRE, called Klebsiella pneumoniae, which can lead to a number of illnesses, including pneumonia, blood stream infections, and meningitis. In early September, she developed septic shock and died.
The authors of the report highlight the need for doctors and hospitals to ask incoming patients about recent travel and if they have been hospitalized elsewhere.
Other experts say it underscores the need for the medical community, the government and the public to take antibiotic resistance more seriously.
According to the CDC, at least two million people become infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria each year, and at least 23,000 die as a direct result of these infections. The World Health Organization calls antibiotic resistance \u201cone of the biggest threats to global health.\u201d
A grim report released last year suggests that if bacteria keep evolving at the current rate, by 2050, superbugs will kill 10 million people a year.
While scientists are working to develop new antibiotics, that takes time, and experts encourage doctors and the public to focus on prevention efforts.
One of the most important ways to prevent antibiotic resistance is to only take antibiotics only when they\u2019re necessary .
\u201cDrug resistance like this [case] generally develops from too much exposure to antibiotics,\u201d assistant professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, told CBS News. \u201cEvery time you\u2019re placed on an antibiotic it\u2019s important to question if it\u2019s absolutely necessary and what\u2019s the shortest amount of time you can take this antibiotic for it to still be effective.\u201d
Johnson notes that medical tourism \u2013 the practice of traveling to another country to obtain medical treatment, typically at lower cost \u2013 may no longer be worth the risk. \u201cWith this [antibiotic] resistance issue, the risk\/benefit of this approach really changes and I think that people really need to be aware and seriously consider if it\u2019s a good idea given the possibility of this kind of thing,\u201d he said.
Frequent hand washing, particularly in healthcare settings, is also extremely important in preventing the spread of germs.
Finally, Johnson says the public can play an important role in advocating for prevention of antibiotic resistance. While important to develop new antibiotics, \u201cthe efforts are not as strong for helping us use our existing antibiotics intelligently,\u201d he told CBS News.
\u201cThere\u2019s definitely something sexy about the notion of developing the \u2018new super anti-biotic\u2019 to fight the superbug. It\u2019s like a cartoon with our mega hero against our mega villain,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBut really we have a lot of great antibiotics right now but we\u2019re using them in silly ways. There are organized, systematic ways that public health systems, healthcare systems, and for that matter veterinary and animal food production systems, can roll out to use our existing drugs more sensibly to slow down the freight train that is heading toward \u2013 or partly going off — the cliff with antibiotic resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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