CRE bacteria here in the US!

A long-dreaded super bug that is a strain of E. Coli has made its first appearance in the United States, researchers at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program announced Thursday.

After being identified in China, Europe and Canada, researchers identified mcr-1 positive— part of the deadly family of bacteria carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE— last month in a urinary tract sample in Pennsylvania, and found it was resistant to the antibiotic colistin.

Colistin, known as the last line of defense against the most antibiotic-resistant bacteria, now appears to be exchanging genes for its resistance and waning in strength, according to a news release.

"Colistin is one of the last efficacious antibiotics for the treatment of highly resistant bacteria. The emergence of a transferable gene that confers resistance to this vital antibiotic is extremely disturbing,” Dr. Patrick McGann, of the Multidrug Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network (MRSN) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), said in the release. “The discovery of this gene in the U.S. is equally concerning, and continued surveillance to identify reservoirs of this gene within the military health care community and beyond is critical to prevent its spread.”

Since the first transferable gene for colistin-resistance was identified in China in 2015, microbiologists have been monitoring food supply and humans for its presence, according to the study that reported the U.S. finding, which was published Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. In Pennsylvania, the urinary tract infection sample from a 49-year-old female patient receiving treatment at a military facility was sent to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), where colistin susceptibility was tested. Tests revealed the bacterial infection would be resistant to colistin, and the center sent the sample to MRSN for sequencing, which identified the colistin-resistant gene, mcr-1. It’s unclear how the woman contracted the infection.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infections with CRE germs are very difficult to treat. One report suggests they may contribute to death in up to 50 percent of infected patients.

In the new study, researchers reported that through intergovernmental communication, the CDC and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) also have identified a swine intestinal infection with a single mcr-1 positive E. Coli strain. The Pennsylvania case and swine case may not be linked, but “the evidence of the strain in the U.S. is a public health concern” that “could worsen the current global crisis of antimicrobial resistance,” according to the release.

At the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday, CDC director Tom Frieden called CRE a “nightmare bacteria.”

Excerpted from an article that appeared on Fox News

A medical situational heads up!

A particularly dangerous super bug, dubbed the "phantom menace" by scientists, is on the rise in the United States, according to a report Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This super bug's strains belong to the family of bacteria known as CRE (Carbapenium Resistant Enteriobacterace), which are difficult to treat because they are often resistant to most antibiotics and can spread this resistance to other bacteria via little packets of genes known as plasmids. They are often deadly, too, in some instances killing up to 50 percent of patients who become infected, according to the CDC. Health officials have called CRE among the country's most urgent public health threats.

In a recent ProMed report out of India, most infections occurred when a patient got transferred to a rehab after suffering a medical problem. They then contract CRE from a careless healthcare worker who fails to wash their hands properly and thus transmit the bacteria. The patient then gets worst and is sent back to the hospital when another 'hand off' occurs and so the process continues. As, you might gather form this, most of those affected are elderly. But, this may not be the case for long. [A personal opinion - A copy of the ProMed report is available here]