CRE Superbug May Be More Widespread In US Hospitals Than Previously Thought, Study Suggests.

reports that carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a class of “a dangerous type of superbug,” appears to have “more ways to evade antibiotics than have been currently identified, and that these bugs share their tricks readily across the families of bacteria that make up this grouping,” research suggests. What’s more, the new study’s findings “suggest these bacteria may be spreading more stealthily than existing surveillance can detect.” reports a new study suggests that the carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) superbug may be more “widespread in US hospitals than previously thought and needs to be more closely monitored.” HealthDay says, “CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden has called CRE ‘nightmare bacteria’ due to their resistance to carbapenems, which are last-resort antibiotics used to treat drug-resistant infections.” In the study, “the researchers also discovered that CRE has a wide range of genetic traits that make it resistant to antibiotics and that these traits are easily transferred between various CRE species.” The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://consumer.healthday.com/infectious-disease-information-21/bacteria-960/superbug-may-be-more-widespread-than-thought-718687.html