Excerpt
Global health experts are sounding the alarm on a nightmare superbug that is resistant to nearly all antibiotics. Doctors warn the bacterial infection is becoming more widespread with little to no treatment options available.
“If we have more and more people developing these kinds of infections, and without options, people will die,” said Dr. Susan Bleasdale, Medical Director of Infection Control at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “It’s serious.”
The World Health Organization in February published its first ever list of drug-resistant bacteria to advocate for new antibiotics that are urgently needed.
A group of dangerous bacteria, called Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, topped WHO’s list.
Local doctors said Illinois appears to be ground zero for CRE cases in the United States. The state was home to one of the largest outbreaks of CRE infections in the country.
In 2013, 39 patients were infected with the drug-resistant bacteria at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. A hospital spokesperson said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked the outbreak to a tainted medical device. Two patients died.
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