Health & Fitness - New superbug hype unwarranted

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New superbug hype unwarranted

LONDON (UPI) -- Recent media hype over the "newly emerging superbug," Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, is misplaced, British experts said.

Georgia Duckworth and Alan Johnson of the Health Protection Agency's Center for Infections in London said headlines about S maltophilia such as "no antibiotics can stop it" and "rising death toll in hospitals" are unfounded. In fact, they say, S maltophilia infections are relatively rare compared to infections caused by other species of viruses and bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Despite recent concerns, in 2007 S maltophilia caused 671 infections in England and Wales, less than 1 percent of all bloodstream infections in England and Wales comparing to 4,918 cases of bloodstream infection caused by MRSA and 50,000 gastrointestinal infections by Clostridium difficle, the researchers said.

S maltophilia infections are uncommon in healthy patients, aren't easily spread and are usually treatable, in contrast to MRSA and C difficile which can be difficult to treat and have epidemic potential, the authors said.

The report is published in the British Medical Journal.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 06/16/2008

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