CDC report: every 15 minutes someone in the USA dies of a drug-resistant superbug

Antimicrobial resistance rates are rising with an alarming rate, both in low- and middle income, as well as in high income countries.

Every 15 minutes, someone in the United States now dies of a superbug that has learned to outsmart even our most sophisticated antibiotics, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.That’s about 35,000 deaths each year from drug-resistant infections, according to the landmark report. This is twice the number of deaths since 2013.

People in the United States are misusing antibiotics, study says. The report places five drug-resistant superbugs on the CDC’s “urgent threat” list — two more germs than were on the CDC’s list in 2013, the last time the agency issued a report on antibiotic resistance.

Companies like Madam Therapeutics are developing solutions that could help these patients, but we need to be allowed to use these drugs and get reimbursed appropriately, as otherwise development cannot be paid.