Antibiotic drugs are becoming less effective against superbugs like MRSA and CRE, but there are ways to slow and even reverse this trend.
Antibiotic drugs are becoming less effective against MRSA each year, but there are ways to slow and even reverse this trend. Last week CNN did a story about yet another emerging superbug called CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae). This bacterial infection has been around for a while, but this new strain is resistant to many of the most powerful antibiotics and has been spreading in hospitals over the last 10 years.
This infection is still rare and so far only found in hospitals. And the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) wants to keep it that way. They want to stop this problem before it gets any bigger or spreads to the community, just like MRSA has done.
The CNN article highlights how CRE and other superbugs are created by our own misuse of antibiotic drugs. It also talks about how antibiotics are becoming less effective and eventually will stop working altogether.
CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden added that “Our strongest antibiotics don’t work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections.”
Steps you can take
While the risk of catching CRE is very small, this story is a good reminder for us all. While antibiotic resistance is a big health problem, we can all play a big part in the solution. Hospitals can actually reverse this problem and make bacterial lose their resistance by instituting the right programs to control superbugs. And as an individual patient, there are several things you can do to make your antibiotics more effective and to help them work better for others too.
Check out our new page about why antibiotics stop working and six specific things you can do to make these drugs more effective and safer if you take them.
To your best health,
Michelle
References:
CDC: ‘Nightmare bacteria’ spreading: CNN New story link: https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/health/super-bug-bacteria-spreading
