Pennsylvanians learned Thursday that the first U.S. case of a bacteria, resistant to all known antibiotics was found in a state resident.
According to researchers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center she’s a 49 years old who was treated at a military outpatient clinic in Pennsylvania on April 26. Her symptoms suggested she had a urinary tract infection. Tests of urine samples revealed MRC-1, an organism resistant to every antibiotic. Scientists believe this is its first appearance in the U.S. The patient hadn’t been out of the country within the past five months.
Altoona Infectious Disease Specialist Robert Sullivan says, “this is very serious because we are losing our antibiotic effectiveness so we’ve had antibiotics for years and years and years and now we may be coming to the end of the antibiotic era because of resistance.”
Dr. Sullivan says researchers are investigating the use of immunotherapy to treat resistant bacteria.
He says people with a weak immune system due to cancer, chronic diseases like diabetes, and other conditions are most at risk from superbugs.
State and federal health experts continue to investigate the case reported Thursday.