Study: Number of drug-resistant germs rising

Here's an unsettling statistic, to say the least. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the number of germs resistant to antibiotics is growing. The Institute, which is part of NIH, will publish an article in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, stating that one in five of the 94,360 patients who developed an invasive MRSA infection in 2005 died. Also, 20 percent of tuberculosis cases worldwide are drug-resistant, with 10 percent "extensively" drug resistant, the agency said. Perhaps most sobering, as of 2002: 14 percent of certain bloodstream infections were resistant to antibiotics, up from 4 percent in 1993.

To learn more about this study:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)

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