The US health authorities are very concerned because their worst nightmare seems to be coming true. For the first time, a patient is infected with bacteria resistant to all antibiotics. The patient, a woman of 49 years coming from Pennsylvania, has fortunately recovered one of optimal health, but health authorities fear that if this resistance were to be able to also spread to other bacteria, the country could be quickly invaded by a “superbug” , a super germ impermeable to all known antibiotics. The patient was admitted to a military hospital, in Pennsylvania, in April, and was treated for a urinary tract infection. Initial tests showed that his infection was caused by Escherichia coli, a germ present nell’indestino which is often responsible for urinary tract infections. But subsequent tests have shown that this bacterium was resistant to antibiotics. Whether to those commonly used for this type of infection, but also to Colistin, an antibiotic which is not used more from the 70s (because of its side effects), which in this case has been used as a “last resort” against bacteria which they have proven too difficult to treat. The resistance gene Colistin had already been observed in animals and in China. Doctors now try to understand how the patient of Pennsylvania, who has not traveled outside of US borders, to be able to become a carrier of this bacterium.
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