Superbug resistant to all antibiotics in the U.S. kills woman

The woman's infection proved resistant to 26 different antibiotics (REX/Shutterstock)
The woman’s infection proved resistant to 26 different antibiotics (REX/Shutterstock)

A U.S. woman has died from an infection after 26 different antibiotics failed to save her life.

The Nevada woman, described as being in her seventies, died in September after every antibiotic currently available in the U.S. failed to fight the bug.

She died soon after returning from an extended visit to India, where she had been hospitalised multiple times over a two-year period.

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The woman had broken her right femur while in India, and later developed a bone infection in her femur and hip.

The woman’s death has prompted calls for antibiotic resistance to be taken more seriously.

Dr. Alexander Kallen, a medical officer in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and one of the report’s authors, told Stat the bug “was tested against everything that’s available in the United States… and was not effective.

“It’s concerning. We have relied for so long on just newer and newer antibiotics. But obviously the bugs can often [develop resistance] faster than we can make new ones.”