Antibiotic resistant superbug finds its way into the US

The United States saw its first case of an antibiotic resistant superbug, as a 48 year old Pennsylvanian women showed traces of a rare E. Coli infection.

This superbug is known to be resistant to all kinds of antibiotics, even Colistin which is only used by doctors when all else fails.

Bugs that can resist the effect of Colistin were first discovered in China and tests showed evidence of their existence in both Europe and Asia. However, doctors have not been able to identify how the bug traveled to the US. The patient hadn’t traveled recently nor is Colistin used frequently by doctors in the US.

Doctors fear that a superbug of this kind could lead to “the end of the road” for antibiotics and would also create more infections that can not be treated.

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Thoman Frieden expressed his concern regarding the matter, "The more we look at drug resistance, the more concerned we are," the BBC reported.

"The medicine cabinet is empty for some patients. It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently,” Frieden added.

Dr Nasia Safdar, from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health commented on the reports,

"It wouldn't be a stretch to say that we are towards the end of effective antimicrobial therapy for antibiotic resistant bacteria," she said, the BBC reported.

The World Health Organization deems antibiotic resistance one of the greatest threats to global health and doctors are urging drugmakers to develop drugs against superbugs of this particular kind.