WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights a dramatic increase in a dangerous type of drug-resistant bacteria called NDM-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales, or NDM-CRE.
The report, titled 'Changes in Carbapenemase-Producing Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales, 2019 to 2023', was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It says, between 2019 and 2023, NDM-CRE infections surged by more than 460 percent in the United States. These infections - including pneumonia, bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections, and wound infections - are extremely hard to treat and can be deadly. Detection is also challenging, as many clinical laboratories lack the necessary testing capacity.
In a 2022 special report, 'COVID-19: U.S. Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance', CDC noted that in 2020 there were approximately 12,700 infections and 1,100 deaths in the U.S. due to CRE. The rise in NDM-CRE, documented in the new study, threatens to increase CRE infections and deaths.
'This sharp rise in NDM-CRE means we face a growing threat that limits our ability to treat some of the most serious bacterial infections,' said Danielle Rankin, an epidemiologist in CDC's Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. 'Selecting the right treatment has never been more complicated, so it is vitally important that healthcare providers have access to testing to help them select the proper targeted therapies.'
NDM-CRE is part of a group of bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), which are resistant to some of the strongest antibiotics available. 'NDM' refers to New Delhi metallo-?-lactamase, an enzyme that makes these bacteria resistant to nearly all available antibiotics, leaving few treatment options.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
