Common ‘Superbug’ Found to Disguise Resistance to Potent Antibiotic

[BlueStateSaint]

This isn't good.

Common ‘Superbug’ Found to Disguise Resistance to Potent Antibiotic

New study finds little-known resistance by a dangerous bacteria to a last-resort antibiotic, part of a worrisome trend

By
Betsy McKay March 6, 2018 6:00 a.m. ET  21 COMMENTS

Some common “superbugs” appear to harbor a little-known type of resistance to a last-resort antibiotic, a new study shows, suggesting a worrying new way in which dangerous bacteria can evade one of the few remaining treatment options.

Bacterial populations are normally viewed as either totally impervious to an antibiotic, or totally treatable. But researchers from Emory University identified a different pattern in a certain type of drug-resistant bacteria, in which some cells in a bacterial colony are resistant to a last-resort antibiotic called colistin. This “heteroresistance” isn’t easily detectable in standard lab tests because most of the cells are susceptible to the drug.

The results of their study were published online Tuesday in the journal mBio.

Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health crisis. The Emory study’s focus, Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, is among the most common of a group of so-called “superbug” bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics and kill up to 50% of the people they infect. More than two million people in the U.S. are sickened every year with antibiotic-resistant infections, with at least 23,000 dying, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Colistin is an old antibiotic which doctors administer to patients as a last resort, when the bacteria infecting them are resistant to all other antibiotics. It is often the only antibiotic that will work against these highly drug-resistant bacteria.

Again, this isn't good.  Natural selection at its' most efficient.

The link:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/common-superbug-found-to-disguise-resistance-to-potent-antibiotic-1520334001

[freedumb2003b]

This is my knock on the Fundamentalist Right:  "Evolution is a myth."

This is proof positive that Evolution indeed is quite an operational theory that works in the real world.  But many don't have the science knowledge to understand that.

It can be like trying to discuss 2VL vs. 3VL with people with no grasp of Boolean algebra.

[docstew]

Klebsiella is a well-known genus for antibiotic resistance.  Carbapenem is an older antibiotic.  There are new one being found all the time.  Resistance to antibiotics is a public health problem, but nothing that can't be fixed by doctors actually confirming their diagnosis instead of just prescribing pills to make the patient go away.

[thundley4]

I blame people that go running to the doctor for every little sneeze and sniffle and then demand some drugs for treatment.