CDC warns of lethal, potentially catastrophic "nightmare bug"

A lethal germ found in hospitals and healthcare facilities called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) has been overpowering antibiotics and could possibly be the beginning of the end of antibiotics, according to the CDC.

CRE affects people who are in or who recently had inpatient medical care, and when someone gets a serious CRE infection, there are very few antibiotics that can treat it. CRE can also spread its antibiotic-fighting weapons to other bacteria, potentially creating additional untreatable bacteria. CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, called CRE a “nightmare bacteria,” as up to half of patients who become infected will die. The CDC lists some important facts about CRE:

• About 4% of US short-stay hospitals had at least one patient with a serious CRE infection during the first half of 2012. About 18% of long-term acute care hospitals had one. This totals almost 200 facilities.
• One type of CRE has been reported in medical facilities in 42 states.
• The most common type of CRE is also rising rapidly--there has been a sevenfold increase in its presence during the last 10 years.

The CDC has mapped out specific guidelines that, when followed, can halt CRE infections before they become widespread in facilities and before they spread to otherwise people. In addition, the CDC has issued a comprehensive CRE Prevention Toolkit, which provides guidelines for physicians and nurses, hospitals, long-term care hospitals, nursing homes, and health departments.