The World Health Organization is warning drug-resistant
bacteria, dubbed ‘superbugs’ are on the rise.
These bacteria do not respond to the first-line antibiotics
often used by clinicians.
Dr. Thomas Holland, an infectious disease specialist who
sees patients at Duke University Hospital, explained there are several types of
these bacteria that can turn routine infections into serious, or even deadly
ones.
“The antibiotic-resistant infection that’s the most common
in the U.S. is MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. That’s one
that we’ve been dealing with for a number of decades, and remains common here,”
said Holland.
Holland said a relatively new fungal pathogen called Candida
auris is also on the rise.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a particularly dangerous drug-resistant bacteria
called NDM-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (NDM-CRE) rose 460%
between 2019 and 2023 across the U.S.
The rise
in NDM-CRE infections was found in patients with things like pneumonia,
bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections, and wound infections.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
(NCDHHS) has also been tracking a rise
in antibiotic resistance statewide.
“The concern is that we’re not keeping pace as far as
antibiotic development and control of these infections with their rise,”
Holland said. “Things that we could normally treat relatively easily, like
urinary tract infections or staph infections, are becoming harder to treat.
That has costs and implications for all of us.”
The CDC estimates 2.8
million drug-resistant bacteria infections are reported each year, with an
estimated 35,000 deaths.
Holland told WRAL the source of the increase is multifactorial.
“One is that we aren’t keeping pace with new antibiotic
development as fast as the bacteria and the fungi and different germs are
evolving,” Holland said. “Another issue is surveillance. We need to be able to
know what’s out there. We have to invest in and keep testing the different
germs that our patients have or that are in our livestock to understand what
these patterns are.”
Overuse of antibiotics, including in cases where they are
not needed as in viral infections, has also believed to be contributing to a
growth in antibiotic-resistant infections.
“The more we use antibiotics and put selection pressure on
bacteria, the more they’re going to evolve resistance,” Holland explained. “If
you have a common cold, it’s not bacterial and antibiotics in that situation
are not going to help you and are going to contribute to driving this evolution
of resistance for everybody else.”
The infectious disease specialist also shared that warming
temperatures are a contributing factor.
“We live in a warming environment. Things that weren’t
normally in North Carolina, like some fungal infections, are now popping up
here. We’re seeing viral infections that normally would have been in the
tropics, now showing up in the U.S. and North Carolina,” he explained.
Holland said combating the rise in antibiotic-resistant
bacteria will require a long-term, focused response.
“We have to know and understand what our local trends are
for resistance. If I’m treating a patient who is really sick with a urinary
tract infection, I have to understand – until I have culture results back – I may
have to use something that’s broader or can cover a wider range of pathogens up
front,” Holland said.
The physician said the increase is concerning but does not
want patients to panic, stating, “This is not a stay-in-your-home situation.”
He continued, “This is something that requires a concerted
and large societal response over time. Wash your hands and just having good
hand hygiene is helpful for not spreading these bugs.”
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