FDA approves new anti-superbug drug
In the UK the so-called “superbug” MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is serious problem in hospitals. It is resistent to almost all antibiotics and infects people with reduced immune resistence and those who are weakened because they have been operated on. The number of deaths doubled between 1999 and 2003 and is rising each year. A member of Ruth’s family died from this bug about two years ago, when she went into a well-known teaching hospital in London for what was supposed to be a minor operation. There is also a version of this bug, called VRSA (vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus Aureus), which has resistance to a drug considered the “last line of defence” when all other antibiotics have failed.
So it is good news, that the FDA has approved the use of a new class of antibiotic, developed by Wyeth, which can be used against both these bacteria, providing an additional treatment for infected patients.