Rise of superbug that’s almost untreatable
SOARING numbers of patients are falling victim to a superbug considered to be almost untreatable.
There are now almost 2,000 cases of infection by Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) a year, up from three 12 years ago.
Figures also show at least 81 patients in England have died from CPE since 2009 at 66 hospitals. But the true number of deaths and cases is likely to be far higher as most hospitals failed to record them.
Experts said the existing data was ‘shocking’ and called for reporting to be made compulsory so the NHS can get a grip on the scale of the crisis.
The bug has been described as the ‘ nightmare bacteria’ by experts as it is very difficult to treat. It has developed a resistance to the last-resort group of antibiotics that are used when all other drugs have failed.
CPE is particularly resistant as it produces the enzyme carbapenemase, which renders drugs ineffective.
Experts say it kills around half of patients who are infected in their bloodstream, although many have underlying health problems. Symptoms vary, but it usually leads to either a pneumonia-type infection in the chest or an E coli infection in the bladder or digestive system.
Val Edwards- Jones, emeritus professor of microbiology at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: ‘It should abso- lutely be mandatory for trusts to report CPE.’
Dr Michael Cooper, a microbiologist at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: ‘If something’s not mandatory, it’s the places doing well that report. You don’t get figures from the trusts with their head in the sand, the poor performers.’
The hospital superbug C diff could be spread by contaminated food, according to Oxford University researchers.
The antibiotic-resistant bug, which can kill elderly patients, is known to spread through direct contact in hospitals.
But the latest study found evidence of the same strains appearing in hospitals in different countries, suggesting it may have been spread by food products moving across borders.