antibiotic-resistant

WHO Report: Nearly Untreatable Gonorrhea is Spreading Globally

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that antibiotic-resistant strains of gonorrhea are on the rise, and about 78 million people per year could be at risk for the sexually-transmitted disease (STD). [1]
In a recent report, the WHO explains how researchers looked at data from gonorrhea cases and antibiotic resistance from 77 countries. Of those countries:

Superbugs may be More Widespread than Previously Thought

The potentially deadly, drug-resistant “superbug,” carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), is more widespread in U.S. hospitals than previously thought, an earlier-released study has found. [1]
Researchers looked for cases of infections caused by CRE in a sample of 4 U.S. hospitals – 3 in the Boston area and 1 in California – and identified numerous varieties of the bacterium. [2]

Genes for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Are Found in Beijing Smog

Public health experts have warned that antibiotic resistance could claim 10 million people each year by 2050. In early December 2016, researchers said they had discovered that livestock had become resistant to a class of antibiotics used only in humans. Now scientists have found the genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics in polluted air in Beijing, China. [1]

Bacteria Resistant to ALL Drugs Found in Canada in OLD Samples

It happened in China, and then moved on to Denmark, then to England. Now, scientists in Canada say they found a mutated gene that causes bacteria to become resistant to ALL antibiotics in 2 samples of ground beef in Ontario in 2010, and in one female patient from Ottawa in 2011.
The Ottawa women who tested positive for bacteria carrying MCR-1 allegedly contracted the bug in Egypt, where she lived for several years. Three days after she returned to Canada, she was hospitalized with an abdominal infection. [1]

Health Experts Worry Drug-Resistant Malaria Could Spread Globally

In the fight against malaria, there is good news and awful news. First, the good news: malaria infection rates are on the decline. Now, the awful news: many of the new malaria cases that do occur are resistant to drugs.
In December, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that global malaria deaths fell from 839,000 in 2000 to 438,000 in 2015. But the disease still strikes 200 million people a year, often killing children.