Highlights
- A superbug resistant to all known antibiotics that can cause “severe” infections or even death is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world, scientists in Australia warned.
- Researchers at the University of Melbourne discovered three variants of the multidrug-resistant bug in samples from 10 countries, including strains in Europe that cannot be reliably tamed by any drug currently on the market.
Staphylococcus epidermidis
- The bacteria, known as Staphylococcus epidermidis, is related to the better-known and more deadly MRSA superbug.
- It’s found naturally on human skin and most commonly infects the elderly or patients who have had prosthetic materials implanted, such as catheters and joint replacements.
- The research team looked at hundreds of S. epidermidis specimens from 78 hospitals worldwide.
- They found that some strains of the bug made a small change in its DNA that led to resistance to two of the most common antibiotics.
- Another Australian study, published last month, suggested some hospital superbugs are growing increasingly tolerant to alcohol-based disinfectants found in handwashes and sanitisers used on hospital wards.
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