Gonorrhea Among Drug-Resisting Germs Sickening Millions

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-16/gonorrhea-among-drug-resisting-germs-sickening-millions.html

More than 2 million people in the U.S. are sickened by antibiotic-resistant germs each year, and at least 23,000 die, according to the first report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to rank the threats.

Three bacteria, including drug-resistant gonorrhea, are classified as urgent threats with the potential to become widespread. Another 11 bacteria and a fungus are referred to as serious perils by the CDC report.

Bacterial resistance was identified shortly after antibiotics were first used in the 1940s, said Steve Solomon, acting director for the epidemiology and analysis program office at the Atlanta-based CDC. In the past, there were always more antibiotics in development. Now, the antibiotic pipeline has largely dried up, leaving doctors without new weapons against the illnesses -- a “nightmare,” Solomon said.

“The cushion of new antibiotics is gone,” Solomon, a report author, said by telephone. “We’re right at the edge of this cliff where we’re approaching the post-antibiotic era.”

[Mnemosyne]

1. "Post-antibiotic era", out to scare the pants off everyone. nt