U.S. Warned of ‘Grave Danger’ as ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ Cases Surge

Antibiotic-resistant “nightmare bacteria” infections have risen by 69 percent in the U.S., a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. Patients with bacteria that can resist powerful last-ditch antibiotics, known as carbapenems, increased from two per 100,000 cases to three per 100,000 between 2019 and 2023. Driving the growth are bacteria with an antibiotic-resistant gene called NDMs, which rose nearly five-fold in the study, from 0.25 to 1.35 per 100,000, a jump of 460 percent. Study author Dr. Maroya Walters warned that the rise could make everyday infections far harder to treat. Published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the research cautioned that misuse of antibiotics has contributed to the increase of the microorganisms once regarded as rare and predominant