Health officials said Thursday that so-called “supergerms” cause 1 out of 7 infections in hospitals.
The bugs include the staph infection MRSA and five other bacteria resistant to many kinds of antibiotics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
The CDC looked at data from thousands of U.S. hospitals from 2008 through 2014, according to foxnews.com, focusing on infections tied to certain surgical procedures and also the use of catheters.
Hospitals are left with few medicines to fight dangerous infections in patients who are already ill. “That’s the scary thing,” said Tim Landers, an Ohio State University expert on antibiotic-resistant infections, to foxnews.com.
The CDC estimates that on any given day, 1 in 25 patients have an infection that they picked up in the hospital. Officials have been pushing hospitals to do a better job keeping infections in check. Medicare, a government program, is cutting payments to the worst hospitals.
The CDC looked at data between 2008 through 2014 at thousands of U.S. hospitals, focusing on infections tied to certain surgical procedures and use of catheters.
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