The ''superbug'' infection at the heart of an outbreak at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles is sometimes called "the nightmare bacteria" because it's so resistant to antibiotics.
286. Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. "Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Maula(Patron, Suppor-ter and Protector, etc.) and give us victory over the disbelieving people."2. Al-Baqarah
Two deaths at the California medical center are linked to the bacteria, known as CRE, or carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Five other patients are infected and nearly 200 may have been exposed, the center says. Exposure stemmed from two contaminated instruments used during procedures done over the past few months at the facility.
WebMD turned to two experts and the CDC to find out more about CRE.
What is CRE and how does it spread?
CRE is in a family of bacteria that are normally found in the gut and have become resistant to antibiotics. They are resistant to most of the available antibiotics, says Stephen Calderwood, MD. He's the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and chief of the infectious disease division at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
The devices linked with the UCLA outbreak, known as duodenoscopes, are used in more than 500,000 procedures a year in the U.S., according to the CDC.
The scope is inserted into the mouth and through the throat, stomach, and the top of the small intestine. It helps doctors diagnose and treat diseases of the liver, bile ducts and pancreas. The FDA warned that the scopes might still carry a risk of infection even after proper cleaning procedures.
The problems can start when the bacteria leave the intestine and live in other areas, such as the urinary tract, lungs, skin, and on medical equipment, Calderwood says. "They mainly cause infections when they get to a certain number and the ability of the body to fight off infection breaks down."
Who is most at risk?
"Most healthy people don't get these infections," says Robert Glatter, MD. He's an emergency medicine doctor at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York. "It's the people living in long-term care facilities, nursing homes, or who have long hospital stays."
Those who get infected often have other diseases, are on antibiotics, and have had a procedure involving a medical device, Calderwood says.
How common is it?
During the last decade, CRE infections have been reported in 42 states, according to the CDC. About 4% of U.S. hospitals had at least one patient with a CRE infection in the first half of 2012, the agency found, while about 18% of long-term acute care hospitals did.
How deadly is it?
Very. About 40% to 50% of those infected may die, the CDC says, according to some studies. Up to half of those who get CRE bloodstream infections die. CRE is much harder to treat than other deadly infections, including those caused by MRSA and C. diff (Clostridium difficile), Glatter says
''The bacteria overwhelm the body," Glatter says. "It can happen over a period of days or it can linger for weeks."
Calderwood says since the infections tend to happen in those who are sick already, the CRE infection may be one of many factors contributing to their deaths.
In a 2013 report, the CDC called CRE an urgent health threat.
How is CRE infection treated?
Doctors often try antibiotics known as carbapenems along with another antibiotic, Calderwood says. Often more than one antibiotic is needed, he says.
What precautions can people take?
"This is really a hospital-acquired infection," Calderwood says. "It's not really a risk for the average person [in the community].''
When you're getting treated in a hospital, you can expect doctors, nurses, and other health care providers to wash their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub before and after tending to you or to any tubes attached to you, the CDC says. But also tell your doctor if you've had recent hospital stays in another facility or another country, the CDC says.
At least 35 patients fell ill and 11 died after contracting a superbug infection at a hospital in Seattle, Washington, according to a new report. The Seattle Times reports that dozens of patients at Virginia Mason Medical Center were infected with a drug-resistant bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) between 2012 and 2014, a result of contact with contaminated endoscopes.
Hospital and public health officials in Seattle did not disclose to patients and their families the cause of the infection at the time of illness, the paper reports. However, health officials say it remains unclear what role the bacteria had, since most patients who underwent the procedure already were critically ill with colon or pancreatic cancer.
"We discovered a problem more than a year ago, we responded quickly to investigate potential causes, and we worked to fix the problem," the hospital said in a statement to CBS News. "The few patients who were affected by this bacteria received appropriate and timely medical treatment."
The specialized endoscopes -- known as a duodenoscopes -- are used to treat patients with pancreatic cancer and other gut illnesses. Hospital personnel say the devices were cleaned in compliance with the manufacturer's instructions but they still carried traces of the bacteria. The bacteria found on the endoscopes matched cultures taken from ill patients, according to officials investigating the case.
CRE is resistant to a majority of antibiotics and, on average, kills 50 percent of those infected.
Similar cases of patients contracting superbugsfrom contact with endoscopes have recently occurred in health facilities in Chicago and Pittsburgh.
The hospital says staff members have since adjusted the way this model of endoscope is cleaned, even though investigators found no breach in infection-control practices. Each device is held for 48 hours to make sure it's free of CRE and other dangerous bugs.
"We determined that the endoscope manufacturer's, as well as the federal government's, recommended guidelines for processing the scopes are inadequate," the hospital statement said. "This is a national problem. We've developed and implemented a better and more thorough process for preparing scopes that is the most rigorous in the nation. We believe our method for preparing endoscopes for medical procedures should now become the national standard."
Some experts are blaming the device's design for causing the infection. The end of scope contains "elevator wire channels," which are essentially small flaps that hold stents and other components of the device. These channels may harbor hidden bacteria that's difficult to thoroughly clean. Commenting on the case, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the design "makes them difficult to clean with the potential for contamination persisting following reprocessing and subsequent transmission of pathogenic bacteria to patients."
The CDC has contacted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the case. However the FDA, the agency tasked with reviewing and approving all medical devices used in the U.S., has not yet issued a warning or recall for this particular model of endoscope.
A spokesperson for the FDA told the Seattle Times that the agency believes the infection rate from the device is very low, and it is critical for performing a life-saving procedure on as many 500,000 patients in the U.S. each year.
Dr. Michael Gluck, Virginia Mason's chief of medicine, said the hospital is joining forces with patient advocate groups to urge the FDA and manufacturers of duodenoscopes to change the design and make it easier to thoroughly clean.
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