When bacteria fight back
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a report about the growth of drug-resistant bacteria in this country, saying that each year more than 23,000 people die and 2 million are sickened by infections caused by resistant microbes. The report released on Sept. 23 categorized the 18 most-worrisome microbes, with three labeled as urgent problems: Clostridium difficile; carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae; and drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhea. To gain a better sense of the medical concerns involved, Gazette staff writer Alvin Powell spoke with Professor of Medicine David Hooper, a physician and chief of the Infection Control Unit at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, a member of the Harvard-wide Program on Antibiotic Resistance, and an authority on drug-resistant bacteria. GAZETTE: What did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do on this issue, and why? HOOPER: The CDC has been concerned about antibiotic resistance for some time. They have undertaken a very...