Woman’s death sets off alarm bells about resistance to antibiotics

How to stay safe from germs antibiotics can no longer kill

This past week, I wasn’t sure if I was reading the news… or the plot of a horror movie.

But unfortunately, it was all too real.

Reports of a Nevada woman who died from an infection that was resistant to every single antibiotic available in the United States were not only shocking, but also, in the words of an infectious disease specialist, “the harbinger of future badness to come.”

It’s a crisis that’s been many years in the making. A lot of it has to do with the huge quantity of antibiotics given to healthy farm animals.

And while there are many pieces of this horror-show puzzle that we have no control over, there are still some life-saving steps you can take to keep yourself and your family safe.

The tip of the iceberg

The story that broke last week about a “pan-resistant” bacteria – a bug that’s resistant to all known antibiotics – showing up in a U.S. hospital patient sent shock waves around the world.

Even though it wasn’t the first such incident, the implications of this one are enormous. As Dr. James Johnson, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota, said, “We’re already falling off the cliff.”

The woman was infected with a type of drug-resistant bacteria that goes by the name CRE. But even worse, the pathogen had an extremely scary mutation that made it resistant to our entire arsenal of antibiotics.

And yes, the woman who died in the Nevada hospital apparently picked up this superbug in India. But remember, bacteria don’t need a passport or a ticket to enter the country. And as Dr. Johnson commented, the horror of antibiotic-resistant superbugs is already happening, only in other countries where we don’t see it.

But it appears that’s no longer the case.

What it means is we’re one step closer to going back to a time in history when any wound or infection had the potential to turn deadly. If the antibiotics we depend on stopped working, it would make routine operations a risky life-and-death gamble.

Even conservative estimates say that if we can’t find a way to halt this frightening trend in the next several decades, superbugs will be killing 10 million a year. It’s almost too horrific to comprehend.

As I said, a lot of this has to do with the fact that healthy farm animals are given constant low-levels of antibiotics to fatten them up faster. And I’m not talking about just a few farms here and there. It’s a widespread problem, with around 80 percent of all the antibiotics sold in the U.S. ending up in livestock.

We can only hope that this current tragedy will snap the FDA and CDC into action. But until that time comes, if it ever does, we have to do whatever we can to protect ourselves and our family members.

First, one of the places where you’re most likely to encounter superbugs is the hospital. So it’s vital, if you or a loved one is hospitalized, to make sure that all IVs or catheters are removed as soon as possible.

Other things you can do include:

Not taking antibiotics for illnesses they can’t help. A study done last year found that over 40 million useless antibiotic prescriptions are given out by doctors every year, mainly for ear and sinus infections and sore throats — things most often caused by viruses.
Being extra careful when handling raw meat or poultry. Also, don’t wash it in the sink unless absolutely necessary. Even the tiniest drop of water splashing off it could spread bacteria around your kitchen.
Ditch the antibacterial soap. Not only does it tend to dry out your skin, but when you break down your skin barrier, you can up your risk of getting an infection. In fact, studies have found that C. diff is resistant to hand sanitizers, but not to old-fashioned soap and water.

“A Nevada woman dies of a superbug resistant to every available antibiotic in the US” Helen Branswell, January 13, 2017, Fox News, foxnews.com