KEY POINTS
Cases of NDM-CRE, a dangerous drug-resistant bacteria, surged by more than 460% in the U.S. between 2019 and 2023.
Hospital patients using ventilators or catheters, taking certain long-term antibiotics or with weakened immune systems are at most risk.
Treatment includes only two specific antibiotics, which require an IV infusion and are expensive.
The U.S. has seen a dramatic increase in a dangerous type of drug-resistant bacteria. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that both infections and deaths have been rising due to NDM-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales— NDM-CRE for short.
The CDC has explored the issue in a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine , looking at the sharp increase between January 2019 and December 20