Deadly ‘Superbugs’ That Don’t Respond To Treatment Are Getting Closer Than Ever

For years, doctors have warned about the dangers posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which could eventually make common ailments impossible to treat with drugs. But now, the day of the ultimate superbug is closer than ever.

On Thursday, researchers revealed that for the first time, they’ve found a case of U.S. bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics. Researchers at Walter Reed found the germ in a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman diagnosed with an E. coli infection last month. The E. coli carried a specific gene, MCR-1, that rendered it immune to the antibiotic colistin — the drug doctors turn to to kill an infection when nothing else works.

The discovery “heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria,” doctors warned in the report about the woman’s case....
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/05/27/3782661/deadly-superbug-gene-comes-to-us/