Antibiotic Superbugs CRKP & MRSA: Who's at Risk?

[Jazzy]

Misuse of antibiotics has led to a global health threat: the rise of dangerous—or even fatal—superbugs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is now attacking both patients in hospitals and also in the community and a deadly new multi-drug resistant bacteria called carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP is now in the headlines. Last year, antibiotic resistant infections killed 25,000 people in Europe, the Guardian reports.



Unless steps are taken to address this crisis, the cures doctors have counted on to battle bacteria will soon be useless. CRKP has now been reported in 36 US states—and health officials suspect that it may also be triggering infections in the other 14 states where reporting isn’t required. High rates have been found in long-term care facilities in Los Angeles County, where the superbug was previously believed to be rare, according to a study presented earlier this month. CRKP is even scarier than MRSA because the new superbug is resistant to almost all antibiotics, while a few types of antibiotics still work on MRSA. Who’s at risk for superbugs—and what can you do to protect yourself and family members? Here’s a guide to these dangerous bacteria.



Link to Guide: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/antibiotic-superbugs-crkp-mrsa-risk

 

[Evil Eye]

That's not exactly a thing you can stop unfortunately.

 

[The Dragon Master]

You know that they're trying to change one part of Penicillin to make it a new Drug so that the Penicillin Resistant Bacteria can't recognize it. It would still work as Penicillin but it would have a slightly changed structure so that the enzymes on the Bacteria wouldn't recognize it.

 

[Evil Eye]

If you keep doing that every few years... might just work

 

[The Dragon Master]

I think their trying to put a phosphate group on Penicillin, so it's just that little bit different, but doesn't actually stop it from working in the human body.

 

[R.H]

Super bugs are popping up all over the place and its only the ones that have killed many that are being made publicly known via the news, papers and online.

Just recently another one was discovered but what I am wondering is instead of waiting for these super bugs to emerge.

Can't scientist spend a little bit more time looking at how the structure of these bugs manifest ate and multiply inevitably leading to the whole new structure of the bug and one thing people don't tell you is that our antibiotics in some way incur these changes upon these bugs which turn into super bugs but it stands to reason that everything evolves as so does bacteria good and bad.

If we speed up the process of these bugs multiplying in there genetic structure then we will hopefully have the cures before these ordinary bugs become super bugs but its always hard to be one step ahead of nature as the current climate in the world proves this point and we are over due a big freeze by a lot.

 

[The Dragon Master]

Super bugs are popping up all over the place and its only the ones that have killed many that are being made publicly known via the news, papers and online.

Just recently another one was discovered but what I am wondering is instead of waiting for these super bugs to emerge.

Can't scientist spend a little bit more time looking at how the structure of these bugs manifest ate and multiply inevitably leading to the whole new structure of the bug and one thing people don't tell you is that our antibiotics in some way incur these changes upon these bugs which turn into super bugs but it stands to reason that everything evolves as so does bacteria good and bad.

If we speed up the process of these bugs multiplying in there genetic structure then we will hopefully have the cures before these ordinary bugs become super bugs but its always hard to be one step ahead of nature as the current climate in the world proves this point and we are over due a big freeze by a lot.

The Bacteria itself doesn't change. There's a ring of DNA called Plasmids, which it the problem. As they can be freely swapped and change between different Bacteria. So all that's needed is one Bacteria to gain/develop this DNA plasmid, which then produces enzymes which stop the Antibiotics from working. Then that Plasmid can be changed/replicated amongst other Bacteria, which then builds up that resistance to the Antibiotics. Which then render's the Antibiotics useless. There is no stopping the Plasmids from being swapped with other Bacteria, at the moment. And this is what makes tackling these Superbugs difficult.

 

[R.H]

Well said I was just making it simple but thanks for explaining that a bit more very helpful thank you