Resistent Klebsiella Strain Found In Houston; Far More Common Than Thought, Prolific Gene-Swapper
A dangerous strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is far more common in Houston than anyone knew and shows signs it can spread prolifically, researchers reported Tuesday. It's a specific strain of a bacteria known as Klebsiella pneumoniae. The superbug is showing a special talent for picking up genes that give it the ability to resist a broad range of antibiotics, the team at Houston Methodist hospital system said.
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Doctors and public health officials have been warning for years about the rise of drug-resistant superbugs. They are especially dangerous to patients in the hospital for extended periods of time but they can also be found in people with ordinary infections such as cystitis and pneumonia.
There have been some nightmarish outbreaks — like one in 2011 at the flagship National Institutes of Health's clinical center in Bethesda, Maryland, that killed seven people, including a 16-year-old boy. That outbreak was caused by a strain of Klebsiella resistant to a major class of antibiotics called carbapenems. Officials eventually discovered it was breeding in the hospital's sinks.
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They found all sorts of tricks the bacteria had developed to resist antibiotics. That included plasmids — little cassette-like pieces of genetic material that different species of bacteria can swap. They are a very quick and easy way for bacteria to acquire resistance genes and are very worrying to infectious disease experts. "We identified 15 strains expressing the New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) enzyme that confers broad resistance to nearly all beta-lactam antibiotics," the team reported in the journal mBio, published by the American Society for Microbiology.
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http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/houston-s-had-superbug-problem-years-never-knew-n760466
