According to the latest report coming from the United States-based CDC, someone living in the U.S. dies every fifteen minutes after being infected from a superbug strain that has managed to outsmart the most sophisticated series of antibiotics churned out by the researchers. This cumulates to a count of 35,000 deaths per year from infections caused due to drug-resistance, states this fresh report.
With this report, the scientists place 5 drug-resistant bugs on the list of urgent threats by CDC. This adds two more of the superbugs to the list as opposed to the year 2013. This was the last when the CDC issued its report on antibiotic resistance. As per genetic research, the germs have now become adept at learning the ways to outwit the antibiotics.
As per the report, some of the miracle drugs can no more perform any magic like they did back when they had no idea how to outsmart the medications. While the infections from superbugs in the hospitals are currently down, the infections are taking a toll elsewhere, like in a community or similar places.
Now, this is an issue that will ultimately affect everyone that shares a community, mentioned the Senior Adviser for Antibiotic Resistance at CDC, Michael Craig. It possesses a massive potential to infect any person living on the planet. While the superbugs are known to typically attack the elderly and frail people, they can literally affect anyone.
One such case was Peggy Lillis’ who was a perfectly healthy and vibrant teacher living in Brooklyn. This 56-year-old woman woke up around a decade ago with a massive case of diarrhea. According to Christian Lillis, her son, she mistook this infection for something that she might have caught while being with the kindergarteners or a variant of food poisoning. She never assumed it to be a severe issue.
Five days post being infected, Peggy became so sick that she failed to move. She was immediately admitted to the ICU. She suffered from C.diff or Clostridioides difficile, which is one of the critical threats as listed by the CDC. With time, Peggy’s kidneys started to fail & she was on her way to a massive septic shock. An antibiotic was given to Peggy named vancomycin via enema and intravenous method. However, she failed to survive the treatment and died the very next day. This happened within a week post contracting the illness.