Superbugs Resistance To Antibiotics Kill Woman in Nevada

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An unidentified Washoe County resident died last year after contracting a multidrug-resistant bacterial infection. Twenty-six kinds of antibiotics available in the United States did not stand a chance to treat her symptoms, highlighting a growing public health threat posed by the multidrug-resistant superbugs.

However, the superbug case was not publicized when it occurred because there was no threat to public safety. "It was an isolated case, and there was no threat to the general population", says spokesperson Phil Ulibari of the Washoe County Health District.

The Atlantic reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report concerning the case. According to the report, the unidentified Washoe County woman who was in her 70's, has been hospitalized in India after fracturing her femur, which eventually led to an infection in her hip. There was no treatment available for her infection so, the woman died from sepsis in early September of last year.

Scientists have gathered blood samples and tested the bacteria that killed the woman, and found out that it was somewhat susceptible to fosfomycin. Unfortunately, fostomycin is not approved in the United States to treat the woman's infection.

Per Las Vegas Review-Journal, Karen Duus, a Touro University associate professor of basic sciences specialized in immunology and microbiology, explains that superbugs are bacteria that cannot be killed by multiple antibiotics. Health experts fears not only for their multidrug-related resistance but likewise, they can transfer circular pieces of their DNA that contains genes to other bacteria and can eventually spread the resistance as well.

The unidentified woman was admitted to an acute care hospital in the county and isolated her after the diagnosis. Medical professionals from Washoe County, the University of Nevada, Reno, the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory and the CDC, have also done subsequent tests to patients and hospitals and found no further carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) - a benign bacterium is found in human intestines but can cause many illnesses when it gets into other areas of the body.

Taking good patient history and isolating the patient prevent Washoe case from spreading. But, Dr. James Wilson, director of Nevada State Infectious Disease Forecast Station at the University of Nevada, also warned that antibiotic resistance is becoming an increasing threat in the U.S.

As part of the team that investigates the antibiotic resistance, Wilson said that the problem is twofold. First, is that patients request antibiotics for health issues that do not require them and second, physicians accede to keep the patients happy by sometimes prescribing them with antibiotics that are not best suited for the individual case.