CDC issues urgent warning about six ‘silent killers’ rising across the US

Health officials are sounding the alarm about a rise in six “silent killers” that have become resistant to drugs commonly used to treat them in the United States.

New CDC report A study into the threat of antibiotic resistance found that infections caused by six hard-to-treat bacteria have increased by at least 20 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 2019, and infection numbers are likely to remain high into 2022, the latest year for which data is available.

Of particular concern is the rise in antifungal-resistant bacteria that can cause serious illness and are often prevalent in health care facilities: Cases of Candida auris jumped five-fold from 2019 to 2022.

Officials estimate that 29,400 people died from antibiotic-resistant infections in 2020, but acknowledged that figure was likely a significant underestimate due to underreporting, and said the 2019 figure of 35,000 annual deaths was likely more accurate.

The increase is Fueling Concerns Deaths from these once-treatable bacteria will increase as the drugs used to treat them become less effective.

Antibiotic-resistant infections are infections that cannot be treated with standard drugs.

of CDCA new report from the National Institute of Health (NIH) looked at seven hospital-acquired pathogens and found that infections caused by six of them have increased compared to years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five of the six are drug-resistant bacteria and one is a drug-resistant fungus.

These include carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter, vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida auris (C. auris).

MRSA was the only one of the seven drug-resistant pathogens whose case numbers remained stable from 2019 to 2022.

Poor infection control practices, such as not washing hands or changing personal protective equipment between patients, pose a risk of spreading these germs within the hospital and beyond.

Furthermore, overuse of antibiotics increases the likelihood of pathogens becoming drug resistant, as it promotes the survival of resistant strains and facilitates their spread as other non-resistant strains are eliminated.

“The pandemic has negated much of the nation’s progress on antimicrobial resistance, particularly in hospitals,” the CDC said in the report.

“The United States must continue to invest in public health efforts focused on prevention to combat antimicrobial resistance.”

Officials said the surge in COVID-19 cases could be caused by longer hospital stays, staffing shortages, increased strain on staff and resources, and poor infection prevention measures.

This could have made it easier for multidrug-resistant bacteria to spread within the hospital, increasing the risk of further infection, the researchers said.

Officials are particularly concerned about the C. auris bacteria. SepsisOver the same period, the number of infections increased by about five-fold, the researchers said.

Sepsis is a life-threatening illness that occurs when the body’s immune system overreacts to an infection, causing severe inflammation that can lead to organs shutting down.

Up to one-third of patients who suffer from the disease do not survive.

Among the patients who became infected with C. auris in the wake of the pandemic was Rory McCleary, who died from the infection in June 2022.

The 86-year-old man was initially admitted to hospital. Accompanied by pneumoniaand appeared to be recovering well.

But her condition rapidly deteriorated and doctors carried out a series of tests which revealed the fungus, which they believe she contracted via her oxygen tube while in hospital.

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That set off a deadly chain of events that led to sepsis, kidney failure and a fatal stroke.

Her daughter Sharon, 61, said she felt her mother would still be alive if she hadn’t been infected.

Data shows that MRSA causes more than 80,000 cases and 11,000 deaths each year in the United States.

For the report, the CDC analyzed data on seven types of antibiotic-resistant infections submitted by hospitals and laboratories across the country.

The report also found that around 80% of hospitalised COVID-19 patients during the pandemic were given antibiotics between March and October 2020.

Officials said this was because it was initially difficult to distinguish between COVID-19 and community-acquired pneumonia.

But antibiotics are designed to target bacteria, not viruses, so they don’t work against COVID-19.