CDC: Containment Strategy Can Prevent, Manage "Nightmare Bacteria" Outbreaks

More than 220 cases of germs with unusual antibiotic resistance (AR), or "nightmare bacteria," were found in 2017 by U.S. health departments working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) AR Lab Network, according to the CDC's recent Vital Signs report. Unusual resistance germs cannot be killed by most or any antibiotics and are typically uncommon to the area where they are found. They also have genes that allow them to spread their resistance to other germs. In screening tests of persons with no symptoms, CDC found that 11% carried an unusual resistance germ. In response, the CDC has developed the Containment Strategy, and it says that identifying cases of infection by unusual resistance germs is the first step.