A Superbug Resistant To Antibiotics, Detected For The First Time In US Woman

A strain of E.coli bacteria, which contained a mutated gene known as MCR-1 have been found in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. It is a superbug that does not respond to antibiotics, even with Colistin, which the doctors use as the last remedy when most antibiotics fail.

Modern Health Care reports that the study was printed in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The researchers see it as the discovery of the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.

The woman went for a check up to a clinic in Pennsylvania. She had her urine sample forwarded to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and they found the bacteria in her urine. The woman did not travel outside the U.S. within past five months. With this, they had no idea how the bacteria got into the woman's system, according to CNN.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health are investigating the case and tracing the contacts in which the patient might have spread the bacteria. On the other hand, the woman was treated and released. Dr. Alex Kallen, a medical officer with the CDC said that the woman had no other medical problems related to bacteria that they know.

Meanwhile, Dr.Thomas Frieden, the CDC director said that the medicine cabinet is empty for some patients. He added that it is the end of the road for antibiotics if they don't do something. Antibiotics have been used for about 85 years and in the first 10 years of use, the bacteria were becoming resistant. Today, the colistin is beginning to fail, according to Science Alert.

In some cases, those bacteria that do not respond to colistin have been found in countries like China, Italy and the UK. This is the first time that the resistance has been found in the US. It is thought that the resistance may have come from Chinese pigs. This is because colistin has been used considerably in the pork industry.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health today, according to the World Health Organization. Frieden said that even though this is the first case in the U.S, they should expect to see more superbugs in the future. He warns doctors against the overuse of antibiotics and encourages the scientists to create new drugs quickly.