A patient treated at a New Jersey hospital carried a strain of E. coli bacteria that is resistant to colistin and carbapenem, two antibiotics that are administered as last-resort drugs against disease and infection. It was the first time that a resistance to two last-ditch antibiotics was found in the United States, and the detection “means there’s likely more out there,” says medical news site Stat.
Microbiologists at Rutgers University identified the double-resistant bacteria in a urine sample from a 76-year-old man treated in August 2014. “Their discovery is significant because it pushes back the timeline of MCR resistance emerging in the United States by an additional 10 months,” says National Geographic, referring to the MCR-1 gene that confers resistance to colistin. There’s no evidence of an untreatable bacteria, “But it raises enough concerns that health authorities are switching tracks, from just looking for the gene in the United States to strategizing how to prevent it spreading.”
Over-use of antibiotics in human medicine and in livestock production is blamed for emergence of bacteria that withstands doses of common antimicrobials. The U.S. is encouraging more prudent use of antibiotics.
In related news, Australian researchers say their study of zebrafish, which has an immune system similar to humans, found a potential way to respond to antibiotic-resistant superbugs, says the Melbourne Herald Sun. By creating a mutant version of the bacteria, they induced a heightened reaction by immune cells to fight the infection. Their work was focused on acinetobacter baumannii, “one of the world’s most problematic, causing life-threatening illnesses,” said the newspaper. “The researchers believe this new pathway may also play a key role in other types of superbugs.”