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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'Nightmare bacteria' spreading across the U.S.
"Nightmare bacteria" with the power to resist most antibiotics are popping up across the U.S., but new, aggressive policies can help stop them from spreading, federal health officials said Tuesday.
A new program for testing suspect bacteria turned up unusual antibiotic-resistance genes 221 times in 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. And 11 percent of people screened for these superbugs carried them, even though they had no symptoms, the CDC said.
"CDC's study found several dangerous pathogens, hiding in plain sight, that can cause infections that are difficult or impossible to treat," said the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat. "While they are appearing all over the place, an aggressive approach can snuff them out."
Antibiotic-resistant germs kill more than 23,000 Americans a year.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nightmare-bacteria-spreading-across-the-us/ar-AAvq36L?li=BBnb4R7
still_one
(92,241 posts)FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Ohiogal
(32,011 posts)And over-prescribing antibiotics surely contributes to this problem .... as well as antibiotic use in our meat supply. I try to buy only meat that is labeled free from antibiotics. It also seems to me that hospitals could do a lot better screening and limiting visitors.
Used to be (when I was a child, anyway) bringing a child to a hospital patient's room for a visit was unheard of. They had strict visiting hours, usually an hour at a time, and visitors happily complied with staff's request to leave when visiting hours were over.
Nowadays, whole families hang out in a patient's room all day long. The kids run around touching everything and coughing all over stuff....no one tells them to leave because "they're family". I had this experience a few years ago, the other woman in my room had her extended family there all evening long until past 11 pm, yakking loudly, eating bags of fast food they brought with them, kids fussing, etc. It just seems like no one thinks they are obligated to follow the rules any more, anywhere! And yes I asked the nurse if she could tell them to leave but she said she was not allowed to because they were family.
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)Exacerbates antibiotic resistance. Think bacterial survival of the fittest...
jpak
(41,758 posts)yup
rurallib
(62,426 posts)Ohiogal
(32,011 posts)The poor folks will be draining resources meant only for rich white men!!