Dangerous superbugs kill more people than previously thought
Nearly twice as many people are dying from drug-resistant infections in the United States than previously thought, according to a report published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Superbugs” are responsible for more than 35,000 deaths and nearly 3 million illnesses each year, the report found.
The increase in deaths comes as researchers develop more sophisticated techniques to identify the deadly infections.
“Our first number was a conservative estimate,” Michael Craig, senior adviser for antibiotic resistance at the CDC, said. “We have more concrete evidence that these infections actually lead to their deaths.”
Superbugs evolve when the germs — including bacteria and fungi — become resistant to nearly all of the medications used to fight them. The fear, experts say, is that patients will develop once-treatable infections that are now resistant to every possible treatment.
“This is not some mystical apocalypse or fear-mongering. It is reality,” said Dr. Victoria Fraser, the head of the Department of Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
NBC News – Erika Edwards – November 13, 2019.