![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
01-03-2023, 12:49 PM
By MIKE STOBBE
today
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At last count, 58 Americans in 13 states have been infected, including at least one who died and at least five who suffered permanent vision loss. All have been linked to tainted eyedrops, leading to a recall.
Experts marvel at how disease detectives pieced together the case: Patients were scattered across the country. The illnesses occurred over the span of months. The infections were found in different parts of the body — in the blood of some patients, in the lungs of others.
But scientists also shudder, because they have long worried common bacteria will evolve so that antibiotics no longer work against them.
“This really shows us that it’s not something theoretical and in the future. It’s here,” said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
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Ostrosky, the University of Texas expert, called the U.S. investigation “a public health victory” saying it shows that fighting drug-resistant bacteria requires international collaboration and investment. But he also said the case is disheartening.
An infection that’s usually easy to treat with common antibiotic eyedrops “has become an infection that can be deadly and has pretty much no treatment except one IV antibiotic,” he said.
Pseudomonas now joins a growing list of bugs — including bacteria that cause urinary tract infections — that are getting increasingly difficult to treat, Ostrosky added.
“It’s like a wave coming for us,” he said.
On how the investigation unfolded, go to: https://apnews.com/article/eyedrops-reca...a1fc5f19f7
today
......
At last count, 58 Americans in 13 states have been infected, including at least one who died and at least five who suffered permanent vision loss. All have been linked to tainted eyedrops, leading to a recall.
Experts marvel at how disease detectives pieced together the case: Patients were scattered across the country. The illnesses occurred over the span of months. The infections were found in different parts of the body — in the blood of some patients, in the lungs of others.
But scientists also shudder, because they have long worried common bacteria will evolve so that antibiotics no longer work against them.
“This really shows us that it’s not something theoretical and in the future. It’s here,” said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
......
Ostrosky, the University of Texas expert, called the U.S. investigation “a public health victory” saying it shows that fighting drug-resistant bacteria requires international collaboration and investment. But he also said the case is disheartening.
An infection that’s usually easy to treat with common antibiotic eyedrops “has become an infection that can be deadly and has pretty much no treatment except one IV antibiotic,” he said.
Pseudomonas now joins a growing list of bugs — including bacteria that cause urinary tract infections — that are getting increasingly difficult to treat, Ostrosky added.
“It’s like a wave coming for us,” he said.
On how the investigation unfolded, go to: https://apnews.com/article/eyedrops-reca...a1fc5f19f7
