The past years saw the rise of superbugs, or germs that have grown resistant to treatments like antibiotics. In the United States, two million superbug-related illnesses crop up every year and at least 23,000 related deaths are on record, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
In its latest report, the agency said that the spread and prevention of superbugs can be achieved, if only an efficient coordination between hospitals and health agencies is established.
"If you're a hospital doing a great job but the hospital down the street isn't, your patients are at risk," said CDC director Tom Frieden, in an interview with LA Times. "Facilities that go it alone can't protect their own patients."
The CDC has identified four types of aggressive pathogens that pose high risks to the public.
- Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, a bug that attacks the intestines after antibiotics kill the weaker germs
- Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, also known as the "nightmare germ," as per CDC. This bug is resistant to all kinds of antibiotics and easily kills patients as it affects the body's bloodstream.
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bug that is multi-resistant to drugs. It attacks hospital patients with weakened immune systems.
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which spreads fast - not only in hospitals - but also in schools and daycare centers.
Based on the CDC's studies, these pathogens are likely to infect 340,000 individuals in the next five years. Thus, an aggressive strategy among health agencies must be set in place and followed, based on a proposed CDC model outlined in its report. Current measures most hospital adapt aren't enough.
Researchers who devised the model said that the rate of CRE infection, for instance, can decrease by 74 percent if facilities are to coordinate extensively. About 37,000 lives yearly may be saved and the industry can also save $7.7 billion in medical costs.
"Antibiotic resistance is a public health crisis," said Amanda Jezek of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, according to USA Today. "If we don't take some comprehensive, coordinated action very soon, this crisis will continue to grow and impact more people and claim more lives."
The CDC director said that they are only waiting on Congress to support the proposal. "We really are limited by lack of resources to roll this out rapidly," he told the LA times.
