Revenge of the Super Bug

The article I chose is called New Threat: Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria Causes Deadly Pneumonia. It was written by S.L. Baker on Saturday July 18, 2009. I found it on NaturalNews.com and can be found on http://www.naturalnews.com/026650_MRSA_bacteria_disease.html.

While H1N1 has been consuming the minds and worries of people everywhere, another infectious disease is arising that is a deadly threat to anyone susceptible. This fatal disease is called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. As you may have already put together, this infectious disease has become a large threat due to its resistance to antibiotics. New strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria have risen, AKA “super bugs,” and are threatening the skin, heart, blood and bones of healthy people. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is a “flesh eating” pneumonia , community acquired and is fatal in 75 percent of cases. This impeding disease can strike anyone regardless of age, health or residence. It is most common among young athletes who play contact sport, nursing homes, military facilities, and childcare centers. The article states, “And those becoming sick with the disease aren’t necessarily the old and/or physically weak.” Upon these unfortunate victims, it causes a high fever and sometimes low blood pressure that progresses to septic shock. Also, it appears most commonly in people who have just experience a flu-like illness. CA-MRSA is well known for causing skin and soft tissue infections that are usually transmitted from person-person contact or contact with anything that may be contaminated.

What I found most intriguing about this disease was its victim. As written in a report from the Emory team, “CA-MRSA pneumonia appears to most commonly affect young and previously healthy patients.” I find this a scary thought because that means most anyone can contract this disease. It is almost an everyday occurrence that people share clothes or forget to put a band-aid on a small cut. However, these are the small things that lead to such a dismal disease. In History of Epidemic Diseases we have learned all about superbugs and the anti-biotic resistant TB. We all know how deadly and devastating TB is, and it causes me to believe that CA-MRSA has potential to become a renounced world issue. It is on its rise and just like any drug resistant bacteria, it has the natural power to reproduce and become superior to any antibiotic we may have now.