Health officials are raising the alarm over the rise of six 'silent killers' in the US that are becoming resistant to the drugs typically used to treat them.
A new CDC report on antimicrobial resistance threats found infections with six hard-to-treat germs had risen at least 20 percent throughout the Covid pandemic compared to 2019 and infections remained elevated through 2022, the latest year data was available.
Of particular concern was the rise of one antifungal-resistant fungus that can cause severe illness and often spreads in healthcare facilities. Cases of this, Candida auris, surged five-fold from 2019 to 2022.
Officials estimate 29,400 people died from anti-microbial resistant infections in 2020, but admitted this was likely a major underestimate due to under-reporting — and said the 2019 tally of 35,000 deaths a year was likely more accurate.
The increase is fueling concerns that deaths from these once-treatable germs will rise as the drugs used to tackle them stop working.
Lorrie McCreary, 86, contracted Candida auris when she was moved to a rehabilitation unit at Baycare St Anthony's Hospital in St Petersburg, Florida
The above table shows how infections shifted between 2019 and 2022 in the US
Antimicrobial-resistant infections are those that can't be treated with standard medications.
The CDC's latest report looked at seven hospital pathogens and found infections with six of them were elevated compared to the years before the Covid pandemic.
Of the six, five are drug-resistant bacteria and one is a drug-resistant fungus.
They include Carbapenem-resistant enterobacterales (CRE), carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter, Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL), multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida auris (C. auris).
MRSA was the only drug-resistant pathogen out of the seven for which cases remained stable from 2019 to 2022.
Poor infection control practices — such as not washing hands or changing personal protective equipment between patients — runs the risk of these bugs spreading within a hospital and even outside of the facility.
Additionally, overuse of antibiotics makes it more likely the pathogens become drug resistant because it promotes the survival of resistant strains and facilitates their spread as other non-resistant types are eliminated.
The CDC said in its report: 'The pandemic undid much of the nation's progress on antimicrobial resistance, especially in hospitals.
'The US must continue to invest in prevention-focused public health actions to combat antimicrobial resistance.'
The above shows how antibiotic-resistant infections spreads in the US and between countries
Officials said Covid may have driven the surge via longer hospital stays, a shortage and increased stress on staff and resources and impaired infection control measures.
These would have made it easier for multi-drug resistant bacteria to spread in hospitals, they said, raising the risk of more infections.
The above shows how a bacteria or fungus may fight off an antibiotic and gain immunity, rendering the medication obsolete
Officials were particularly concerned about the fungus C. auris, which can cause sepsis, they said cases were up nearly five-fold over the same period.
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body's immune system overreacts to an infection and triggers severe inflammation that causes organs to shut down.
Up to a third of patients who suffer from the condition do not survive.
Among the patients to catch C. auris in the wake of the pandemic was Lorrie McCreary, who died from the infection in June 2022.
The 86-year-old was originally admitted to the hospitalwith pneumonia, and appeared to be recovering well.
But her condition rapidly deteriorated, causing her doctor to run a battery of tests which revealed the fungus — that she is believed to have caught while in the hospital, likely from an oxygen tube.
It triggered a fatal chain of events, leading to sepsis, kidney failure and a deadly stroke.
Her daughter Sharon, 61, said she felt her mother would still be alive if she hadn't caught the infection.
For MRSA, there are more than 80,000 cases and 11,000 deaths each year in the US, data shows.
For the report, the CDC analyzed data on seven antimicrobial-resistant infections submitted by hospitals and labs around the country.
The report also found that during the Covid pandemic, almost 80 percent of hospitalized Covid patients received an antibiotic from March to October 2020.
This was initially due to the difficulties in distinguishing Covid from community-acquired pneumonia in the early days, officials said.
But antibiotics will not work against Covid because they are designed to target bacteria and not a virus.