It may sound like something out of a science fiction or horror movie, but superbugs are a real life problem that seriously needs addressing. Just last September a woman in Nevada died from antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are unstoppable against 26 different antibiotics. The woman was in her 70’s and appeared to contract the infection after she broke her leg while in India. But, this is just one of many recent attacks from superbugs that are taking the lives of innocent people, and it’s time something was done about it.
Even though the fatality occurred more than three months ago, a report has only just been issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and goes on to confirm how we are struggling to cope in the fight against these deadly so-called superbugs. India, in particular, is a country well known for having more antibiotic-resistant bacteria than most, including the US, but it’s no longer focused here and has spread to become a global issue.
Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, has named the Nevada superbug, Klebsiella pneumoniae under a broad class of superbugs called CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae). Statistics suggest worrying times ahead if action is not taken soon, with superbugs NIL as many as 10 million deaths per year by the time we reach 2050 (that’s more deaths than those caused by cancer).
Many experts say that the superbug crisis is already upon us. “People have asked me many times, How scared should we be?. How close to are we to the edge of the cliff? And, I tell them: We’re already falling off the cliff,” says James Johnson, a doctor studying infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota. So it’s clear that more funding needs to be put towards finding a cure for these superbugs, and that time is of essence. Developing new drugs is a costly expense, but a necessary one if we are to continue to survive.
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