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\nThis page is a historical archive and is no longer maintained.
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\nFor Immediate Release: March 5, 2013
Contact: Division of News & Electronic Media, Office of Communication
(404) 639-3286
NEW: Broadcast quality clips featuring CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., on the Vital Signs: Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae are available at this link: http://www.cdc.gov/media/subtopic/audioVideo.htm.
In addition, we are providing a link to b-roll footage of CDC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Healthcare-Associated Infections Laboratory at http://www.cdc.gov/media/b_roll.html
Data show more inpatients suffering infections from bacteria resistant to all or nearly all antibiotics
\nA family of bacteria has become increasingly resistant to last-resort antibiotics during the past decade, and more hospitalized patients are getting lethal infections that, in some cases, are impossible to cure.\u00c2 The findings, published today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s Vital Signs report, are a call to action for the entire health care community to work urgently \u00e2\u20ac\u201c individually, regionally and nationally \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to protect patients. During just the first half of 2012, almost 200 hospitals and long-term acute care facilities treated at least one patient infected with these bacteria.\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2
\nThe bacteria, Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), kill up to half of patients who get bloodstream infections from them. In addition to spreading among patients, often on the hands of health care personnel, CRE bacteria can transfer their resistance to other bacteria within their family. This type of spread can create additional life-threatening infections for patients in hospitals and potentially for otherwise healthy people. Currently, almost all CRE infections occur in people receiving significant medical care in hospitals, long-term acute care facilities, or nursing homes.
\n\u201cCRE are nightmare bacteria.\u00c2 Our strongest antibiotics don\u2019t work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections,\u201d said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.\u00c2 \u201cDoctors, hospital leaders, and public health, must work together now to implement CDC\u2019s \u201cdetect and protect\u201d strategy and stop these infections from spreading.\u201d
\nEnterobacteriaceae are a family of more than 70 bacteria including Klebsiella pneumoniae and E. coli that normally live in the digestive system. Over time, some of these bacteria have become resistant to a group of antibiotics known as carbapenems, often referred to as last-resort antibiotics.\u00c2 During the last decade, CDC has tracked one type of CRE from a single health care facility to health care facilities in at least 42 states.\u00c2 In some medical facilities, these bacteria already pose a routine challenge to health care professionals.\u00c2
\nThe Vital Signs report describes that although CRE bacteria are not yet common nationally, the percentage of Enterobacteriaceae that are CRE increased by fourfold in the past decade. \u00c2 One type of CRE, a resistant form of Klebsiella pneumoniae, has shown a sevenfold increase in the last decade. \u00c2 In the U.S., northeastern states report the most cases of CRE.
\nAccording to the report, during the first half of 2012, four percent of hospitals treated a patient with a CRE infection.\u00c2 About 18 percent of long-term acute care facilities treated a patient with a CRE infection during that time.
\nIn 2012, CDC released a concise, practical CRE prevention toolkit with in-depth recommendations for hospitals, long-term acute care facilities, nursing homes and health departments. Key recommendations include:
\nIn addition, CDC recommends screening patients in certain scenarios to determine if they are carrying CRE.\u00c2 Because of the way CRE can be carried by patients from one health care setting to another, facilities are encouraged to work together regionally to implement CRE prevention programs.
\nThese core prevention measures are critical and can significantly reduce the problem today and for the future.\u00c2 In addition, continued investment into research and technology, such as a testing approach called Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD), is critical to further prevent and more quickly identify CRE.
\nIn some parts of the world, CRE appear to be more common, and evidence shows they can be controlled.\u00c2 Israel recently employed a coordinated effort in its 27 hospitals and dropped CRE rates by more than 70 percent. Several facilities and states in the U.S. have also seen similar reductions.\u00c2
\n\u201cWe have seen in outbreak after outbreak that when facilities and regions follow CDC\u2019s prevention guidelines, CRE can be controlled and even stopped,\u201d said Michael Bell, M.D., acting director of CDC\u2019s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. \u201cAs trusted health care providers, it is our responsibility to prevent further spread of these deadly bacteria.\u201d
\nVital Signs is a CDC report that appears on the first Tuesday of the month as part of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR. The report provides the latest data and information on key health indicators. These are cancer prevention, obesity, tobacco use, motor vehicle passenger safety, prescription drug overdose, HIV/AIDS, alcohol use, health care\u00e2\u20ac\u201cassociated infections, cardiovascular health, teen pregnancy, food safety and viral hepatitis.
\nCDC works 24/7 saving lives, protecting people from health threats, and saving money to have a more secure nation. Whether these threats are chronic or acute, manmade or natural, human error or deliberate attack, global or domestic, CDC is the U.S. health protection agency.
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