Bacteria dubbed the "nightmare" because resistant to antibiotics and kills half of those infected spread in nearly 200 hospitals and nursing homes in the United States.
According to the centers for disease control and prevention Administration (FDA), about four percent of hospitals and 18 percent of nursing homes have treated at least one patient infected with carbapenem resistant bacteria Enterbacteriaceae (CRE) in the first period of 6 months in 2012.
"CRE is a bacterial nightmare. Strongest antibiotics were not effective and patients are difficult to treat infections. Doctors, hospitals, and health officials must work together to discharge the detection and infection prevention strategies," said Dr. Thomas Frieden.
Even so, according to Frieden, currently there is an opportunity to prevent the spread of bacteria. "We have only limited opportunities to stop the infection from spreading in the community and spread to other organisms," he said.
CRE present in more than 70 families of bacteria called Enterobacteriaceae, including Klebsiella pneumoniae and E. coli, which normally live in the digestive tract.
In recent years, several types of bacteria become resistant to the latest generation of antibiotics known as carbepenems.
The experts that he was concerned by the rapid spread of bacteria that would endanger the lives of patients and healthy people. For example, in 10 years, the CDC found one CRE from the same health care elsewhere in the 42 states.
"It is very worrying if resistant bacteria because the bacteria are very common," said Dr. Marc Siegel of NYU Langone Medical Center.
Most patients infected with CRE are those who stay longer in the hospital or nursing home. This bacterium infects the patient's blood circulation and can easily spread between patients via the hands of healthcare workers. In addition, these bacteria also transfer their immunity to antibiotics to other bacteria in the same type.
According to Siegel, the problem stems from the overuse of antibiotics. "What is needed to overcome this condition is a new generation of antibiotics, but pharmaceutical companies are not interested in developing it," he said.