The federal government last month was warning hospitals that some Staph bacteria strains apparently have become drug-resistant, the Associated Press reported.
The warning came after a 63-year-old Illinois woman died in April from a heart valve infection despite having taken antibiotics. AP said it was the first confirmed U.S. death from a Staph infection that didn’t respond to vancomycin, described as the "antibiotic of last resort" for lingering infections.
Issuing its warning, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said some Staphylococcus aureus are showing signs of resistance to vancomycin.
CDC’s report cited four cases since 1997, including the Illinois woman for whom vancomycin had no effect on a Staph infection that entered a valve in her heart. The other three cases, involving seriously ill people treated with vancomycin, were in Michigan, New Jersey and New York. The Illinois case was the only confirmed fatality, AP reported.
A CDC spokesperson said these cases show "why we need to use antibiotics more judiciously."
Staph bacteria are passed by skin-to-skin contact and are usually harmless. But the bacteria can enter the body through wounds and cause serious infections of the skin, tissues, bones and joints, CDC said. Staph is blamed for about 13 percent of the nation’s two million infections reported at hospitals each year.
Researchers working on new antibiotics announced in September that two had proven effective against vancomycin-resistant bacteria, AP said. The two drugs are Synercid, produced by Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, and Zyvox, made by Pharmacia & Upjohn.
