Antibiotics and Superbugs: Recent Outbreak Highlights Dangers

An outbreak of a “superbug” at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has left two dead and more than 170 exposed to the deadly bacteria that’s resistant to strong antibiotics. Medical devices used in endoscopic procedures were found to be housing the superbug carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). CRE produces an enzyme called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM, that eliminates the effectiveness of antibiotics. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the endoscopes had not been properly sanitized, even though they had gone through a thorough disinfection process. The NDM-producing CRE bacteria was still present on the endoscopes after following the manufacturer’s directed cleaning procedure. A superbug is a strain of bacteria that’s heavily resistant to different types of antibiotics. The CDC estimates that 23,000 people are killed and over two million people are affected by superbugs each year. The rise of these statistics in
http://bit.ly/1wh66zw

Disneyland Outbreak Is A Reminder About Prevention

More than 70 people in North America have reported suffering from measles as of Jan. 23 in an outbreak that started at Disneyland in Southern California earlier this month. Even five park employees have reportedly been infected. Though the case has the country thinking about measles and serves as the latest round in the immunization vs. non-immunization battle, it’s not the worst outbreak the U.S. has had in recent years, only the most high profile. “As a parent, this is scary. It brings back all these notions of how unsafe the world can be,” says Well.org’s Dr. Pedram Shojai on a recent Health Bridge podcast. Shojai lives near the amusement park. “It’s one of the most contagious viruses around. We don’t see it that often, but it can linger in the air for hours.” Shojai and co-host Dr. Sara Gottfried are quite in agreement about the real underlying issues and solutions to outbreaks like this. First, it’s not about Disneyland. Any public place can be the flashpoint fo
http://bit.ly/1L5jcnF