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Antibiotic Resistant “Nightmare Bacteria” Have Escaped the Hospital
Smithsonian ^ | 31 July 2014 | Colin Schultz

Posted on 08/04/2014 9:12:32 AM PDT by Lorianne

Sometimes, when antibiotics are used to kill disease-causing bacteria, a genetic mutation here or a different protein there help the bacteria survive. With all of their competitors wiped out, these new, antibiotic-resistant bacteria are free to reproduce, passing on their genes to descendents.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae—which the Centers for Disease Control and Protection have dubbed “nightmare bacteria”— are, at this point, resistant to pretty much everything we have and, over the past 18 years, have been slowly gaining ground.

​Most of the people who caught these bugs, though, were either in the hospital—most likely a long-term, acute-care hospital—or had been there recently. One of the CDC's worries is that CREs could escape from the hospital setting. This, unfortunately, seems to be happening, says Maryn McKenna on her blog Superbug.

The prevalence of CRE seems to be growing, says McKenna, reporting on a new study. From 2008 to 2012, in the American southeast, the rate of detection of the bacteria increased five-fold. Most of these cases (288 of 305, or 94 percent) were connected to hospital visits, but some weren't. Some of this five-fold increase is attributable to better detection methods, the scientists say, but some of it is a sign that these antibiotic-resistant bacteria are taking hold.

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: health

1 posted on 08/04/2014 9:12:32 AM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne

A hospital is one of the most dangerous places to be in, these days.


2 posted on 08/04/2014 9:16:10 AM PDT by 353FMG
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To: Lorianne
Scary. Raises the question: What's the status of new antibiotic development? Does it need to be encouraged by tax breaks and/or regulatory fast-tracking?
3 posted on 08/04/2014 9:17:27 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom (A goverrnment strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.)
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To: Lorianne

4 posted on 08/04/2014 9:23:37 AM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: ConservingFreedom

“What’s the status of new antibiotic development? Does it need to be encouraged by tax breaks and/or regulatory fast-tracking? “

http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua/news/news-newsletter-vol-30-no-1-2.shtml

In short only two have been approved since 2008. This article details why. (Low hanging scientific fruit has been picked. Not much profit so poor return. Regulations nobody can understand.)


5 posted on 08/04/2014 9:28:27 AM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: Lorianne

Forget Godzilla vs. Mothra.

Next summer’s smash movie will be Ebola vs. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.


6 posted on 08/04/2014 9:36:08 AM PDT by Moltke (Sapere aude!)
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To: ConservingFreedom

New antibiotic R&D is covered on page 19,057 of OBAMAcare and will commence as soon as funds become available in 2027. Relax and enjoy another beer. //sarc off//


7 posted on 08/04/2014 9:38:30 AM PDT by mosaicwolf (Strength and Honor)
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To: mosaicwolf

Silver ions kill over 600 human pathogens.


8 posted on 08/04/2014 9:41:11 AM PDT by therapsida (tThats a group now?)
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"Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish?
Nothing else."

~Epictetus




God bless this site, this Free Republic.
Please click the pic


9 posted on 08/04/2014 9:41:49 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Lorianne
I saw one of these in action when my dad was in the hospital Germ-fighting robots that pulse UV light are used by Loyola University Health System to fight infectious disease

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130621121003.htm

10 posted on 08/04/2014 9:46:28 AM PDT by Selene
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To: Gen.Blather

The bacteria that was being eliminated by these vaccines was so effective that the EPA had them declared an endangered specie and are now protected. The antibiotic has now been outlawed. The EPA is now looking for subjects whereby they can reintroduce these deadly bacterium into the general population once again much like what they have done with smallpox and polio. One can only marvel at the wisdom and intelligence of a group of sanctimonious and supercilious . . . (sarc)


11 posted on 08/04/2014 9:49:38 AM PDT by dirtymac (Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country)
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To: dirtymac

“The bacteria that was being eliminated by these vaccines was so effective that the EPA had them declared an endangered specie and are now protected.”

Like reintroducing wolves to the “wild.” Except there really is no “wild” left. There are rural areas where kids walk to the bus stop. I’d say, fine, let the kids carry guns. But we all know how far that would go. (My mom, who went to school on horseback in the twenties said the boys would leave a rifle in their saddles and shoot game on the way home. No game, no meat for dinner. My, how diversity has changed us, eh?)


12 posted on 08/04/2014 9:57:47 AM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: 353FMG

“A hospital is one of the most dangerous places to be in, these days.”

What was old is new again.

Stay out of them as much as you can. (GRIN)


13 posted on 08/04/2014 10:22:31 AM PDT by headstamp 2
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To: therapsida

My cousin went in for a cortisone shot in the knee.

The band aid they used caused an infection when he pulled it off. The little sore from the adhesive area blew up into a full blown staff infection that had to be drained/treated.

Plumber I know was kneeling on the floor of a public restroom working on a fixture. Within about a week he had an infection on his knee that he almost lost his leg over.

Always wear knee pads when kneeling on any surface.


14 posted on 08/04/2014 10:27:50 AM PDT by headstamp 2
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To: Selene

Ex-Term-I-Nate!!!!


15 posted on 08/04/2014 10:50:01 AM PDT by GraceG (No, My Initials are not A.B.)
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To: headstamp 2

In Argentina the doctors still make house calls. Sounds like a good idea for us to pick up here again.


16 posted on 08/04/2014 11:23:11 AM PDT by The Duke ("Forgiveness is between them and God, it's my job to arrange the meeting.")
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To: therapsida

Taking colloidal silver can also kill you. While everybody has a different tolerance, some people die in just one or two doses. Some people can take it indefinitely. The trouble is there is no way to tell where an individual’s line is...

What it does is it replaces iron in you red blood cells and you die from lack of oxygen absorption.


17 posted on 08/04/2014 1:44:13 PM PDT by El Laton Caliente (NRA Life Member & www.Gunsnet.net Moderator)
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To: therapsida

I might add, if it was take colloidal silver or die from an infection I would take the silver in a heartbeat.


18 posted on 08/04/2014 1:45:34 PM PDT by El Laton Caliente (NRA Life Member & www.Gunsnet.net Moderator)
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To: El Laton Caliente

My brother in law was trying to figure out why taking colloidial silver for a month for his sinus infection put him in the hospital.

Now I understand.


19 posted on 08/04/2014 1:47:57 PM PDT by nascarnation (Toxic Baraq Syndrome: hopefully infecting a Dem candidate near you)
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To: El Laton Caliente

Can’t it also turn you blue?


20 posted on 08/04/2014 2:32:33 PM PDT by NotSoFreeStater (If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice)
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