Super-strong staph infections spreading

U.S. doctors are warning an antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as Staphylococcus aureus is spreading, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

U.S. doctors are warning an antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as Staphylococcus aureus is spreading, the New York Times reported Tuesday. Infections caused by the new resistant staph are unexpectedly aggressive and delays in starting the right antibiotics may be life-threatening, experts say. “Staph infections are such a common problem that the emergence of infections resistant to common antibiotics has important public health implications,” said Dr. Daniel B. Jernigan, an epidemiologist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria often develop when people take many antibiotics, or frequent places like hospitals, where many antibiotics are used. The antibiotics kill off the sensitive bacteria in people’s mouths, intestines and skin and the bacteria that are naturally resistant to the antibiotics thrive and eventually predominate. But this process, called “antibiotic pressure” cannot explain the emergence of the new resistant staph, because among the general public where these infections appear, there is relatively little antibiotic use and many people with these infections have never taken antibiotics before. (Source: United Press International, March 2004)