NEW YORK – A fourth U.S. person has been diagnosed with bacteria resistant to a last resort antibiotic, but researchers are expressing relief that so far these superbug precursors have not spread to others.
The latest case is a 2-year-old Connecticut girl who was diagnosed earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
She and three other Americans have been found to have E. coli bacteria that were resistant to an important medicine called colistin. Colistin is an old, powerful drug with significant side effects that is reserved for germs that already resist other important antibiotics.
Officials have worried that the colistin-resistant bacteria will spread their special trait to bacteria already resistant to other medicines, setting the stage for true superbug infections that are impervious to all known antibiotics.
WASHINGTON – Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Friday appealed to Congress to approve $2 billion in aid for his state, part of a two-day trip to Washington to ask for federal help after catastrophic flooding.
At a House subcommittee hearing reviewing the federal response, Edwards said the money is needed for housing, economic development and public works after August flooding that caused more than $8.7 billion in damage.
“Simply put, we cannot recover without it,” Edwards told lawmakers.
Edwards met with members of Congress and administration officials, and he and Louisiana lawmakers hope flood aid can be part of spending legislation that Congress must soon pass to keep the government operating past month’s end.
Associated Press
