   |
 |
|
|
Third Case Ever in the United States of a Staph Infection that Vancomycin Couldn't Cure
ATLANTA—An elderly man in New York State became the third patient in the United States to have a staph infection not curable by one of the most powerful antibiotics—vancomycin, according to an article in Emerging Infectious Diseases, CDC's peer-reviewed journal, which focuses on new and reemerging infections worldwide.
Because antibiotics are often overused and misused, they are losing their effectiveness both in the United States and abroad. Even vancomycin—the last defense against infections resistant to other antibiotics—is beginning to lose its effectiveness. Staph, a common organism that people can carry often without becoming ill, can cause antibiotic-resistant infections. Staph infections, including bloodstream infections, pneumonia, and surgical-site infections, are common in hospitalized patients.
The New York patient with vancomycin-resistant staph was hospitalized with heart disease, lung disease, thyroid problems, and kidney failure. To investigate how he became infected, the authors obtained specimens from health-care personnel that had contact with the patient in the hospital and examined them for the presence of staph. They found that the organisms infecting the patient and the health-care personnel were unrelated. They also examined specimens from the patient when he was first admitted to the hospital. Say the authors, "We found that [the patient's staph infection] apparently emerged from an [antibiotic]-resistant [organism] that had infected...the patient during the 3 months before his death."
The authors say that the patient's vancomycin-resistant staph infection probably occurred as a result of his taking vancomycin to treat a long-term previous infection.
Access the full article at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol5no1/rotun.htm. All material in Emerging Infectious Diseases is in the public domain and may be used without special permission; proper citation, however, is appreciated.
For more information on this or related topics, see...
Top of Page | Current
Issue | Upcoming Issue | Past Issue | Search
| Home