A new study has warned that a certain group of a drug-resistant and potentially deadly bacteria may be spreading more widely and become more active in terms of increasing stealth than previously thought. Researchers at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health has reportedly analyzed a large family of bacteria named as Carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae more commonly known as CRE. It is said that the bacteria includes many of the more familiar pathogens such as Salmonella that are basically considered to be a disease-causing agent found in four hospitals in the US.
The Antibiotic Resistant 'Nightmare Bacteria'
In one of his statements reported by Daily Mail, last year, CDC director Dr Tom Frieden has dubbed CRE as "nightmare bacteria" after it was proven that the bacteria gets immune to many last-resort antibiotics. It was found that in doing a thorough analysis of samples from across the country, the team discovered that there is a much wider variety of CRE species than there has ever been before. The team has also added that upon doing their analysis, they highly emphasized that each CRE specie has its own medication-fighting properties. Moreover, the Harvard researchers also said that the species seemingly appear learns and adapts from each other, while sharing and spreading medication-resistant genes, highlighting the fact that some of which have never been seen before.
What Is CRE?
Meanwhile, according to SBS, it was found that CRE are a class of bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics, including carbapenems. A significant number of doctors have been considering the use of CRE as last-resort drugs when other antibiotics have failed. Recently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that in terms of infection rates, the incidence of CRE is found to be on the rise just as what happened to an unnamed woman in Reno, Nevada which apparently has killed her. Ultimately, study's lead author William Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard Chan School claimed that the best way to stop the prevalence of CRE in making people sick is to prevent transmission in the first place.
