“..Over six frightening months – a deadly germ untreatable by most antibiotics spread in the nation’s leading research hospital…”

“..Pretty soon, a patient a week was catching the bug. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health locked down patients – cleaned with bleach – even ripped out plumbing –

- and still the germ persisted.

By the end, 18 people harbored the dangerous germ,= – and six died of bloodstream infections from it.

Another five made it through the outbreak only to die from the diseases that brought them to NIH’s world-famous campus in the first place.

It took gene detectives teasing apart the bacteria’s DNA to solve the germ’s wily spread – a CSI-like saga with lessons for hospitals everywhere as they struggle to contain the growing threat of superbugs.

It all stemmed from a single patient carrying a fairly new superbug known as KPC – Klebsiella pneumoniae that resists treatment by one of the last lines of defense -

- antibiotics called carbapenems…”

(cont..)

go to source/story>>>

How Scientists Stopped Klebsiella Pneumoniae: Deadly Superbug Killed 6 At NIH Clinical Center.

This entry was posted in health, international politics/culture/ stuff. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply