America Has Bacteria Resistant To All Antibiotics Now

Last week a strain of bacteria resistant to even antibiotics of last resort was discovered in a woman in Pennsylvania . The 49-year-old was being treated for a urinary tract infection when a common variety of E Coli bacteria was found in her gut. It was initially resistant to antibiotics, but was eventually treated successfully. However, when the bacteria was later tested it was found to have a gene for resistance to colistin, an antibiotic commonly used as a last resort due to the harshness of its side effects.

This is the first reported case of bacteria carrying a gene that makes it resistant to colistin in the United States, though “superbugs” that have developed resistance to any antibiotic thrown at them have been found in Canada, China, and Europe before now.

“It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently,” said director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr Tom Frieden, as quoted in The Guardian.

Colistin is one of the last antibiotics that bacteria have developed resistance against, as it dropped out of common usage in the 1970s due to its side effects and has only had to be dusted off in recent years as other antibiotics become less and less effective.

(h/t: The Guardian)