Sept. 15, 2010 12:00 AM
Excerpts:
In the United States, carbapenem-resistant bacteria -- designated carbapenem-resistant carbapenemase (KPC) -- are usually transmitted in health-care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes, and are typically spread from patient to patient from contaminated surfaces and hands, he said.
-snip-
In the United States, three cases have been reported. They were in Massachusetts, Illinois and California, Kallen said. None of the U.S. patients died from their infections, he said.
While NDM-1 is new, carbapenem resistance has been increasing, Kallen said.
How dangerous NDM-1 will become isn't known, Kallen said. But some studies have found the death rate from KPC [the North American bacterium] to be as high as 40 percent, he said.
Most of the transmission of the NDM-1 (Indian) and the KPC (North American) bacteria happen as infected people travel around the world, Kallen added. "These people carry with them all their antibiotic-resistant bacteria and that mechanism [travel] has been recognized lots of times, including with NDM-1 and KPC," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment