[ExI] 'Last resort' antibiotic now failing

[BillK]

Antibiotic resistance: World on cusp of 'post-antibiotic era'

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34857015>

Quotes:

The world is on the cusp of a "post-antibiotic era", scientists have
warned after finding bacteria resistant to drugs used when all other
treatments have failed.

They identified bacteria able to shrug off the drug of last resort -
colistin - in patients and livestock in China.
They said that resistance would spread around the world and raised the
spectre of untreatable infections.

It is likely resistance emerged after colistin was overused in farm animals.

Resistance to colistin has emerged before.
However, the crucial difference this time is the mutation has arisen
in a way that is very easily shared between bacteria.

"The transfer rate of this resistance gene is ridiculously high, that
doesn't look good," said Prof Mark Wilcox, from Leeds Teaching
Hospitals NHS Trust.
His hospital is now dealing with multiple cases "where we're
struggling to find an antibiotic" every month - an event he describes
as being as "rare as hens' teeth" five years ago.
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BillK