Drug-Resistant Superbugs Sweeping Across Europe

Pierre Bezukhov writes "Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common cause of pneumonia, urinary tract, and bloodstream infections in hospital patients. The superbug form is resistant even to a class of medicines called carbapenems, the most powerful known antibiotics, which are usually reserved by doctors as a last line of defense. The ECDC said several EU member states were now reporting that between 15 and up to 50 percent of K. pneumoniae from bloodstream infections were resistant to carbapenems. To a large extent, antibiotic resistance is driven by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which encourages bacteria to develop new ways of overcoming them. Experts say primary care doctors are partly to blame for prescribing antibiotics for patients who demand them unnecessarily, and hospitals are also guilty of overuse."

Comments

Re:VS

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope. Not really. At least in Germany. Public insuranced patients only pay a little fee, co-payment. 5-10 Euro. In case they pay more than 2% (1% for pensioners/workless) of their income during a year, they won't pay anything at all for the rest of the year.

For tea-bagger idiots : The state cares about you (europeans). That's socialism, right?.... scary stuff. Where is the army? Pray, hole Europe has been invaded and converted to reds. Let's nuke them.....

(yeah, I do really, really despise tea-baggers...all idiots...no exception)

Re:Tragedy of the Commons

[Hatta]

People who don't realize the aggregate effects of individual behavior are rightly called stupid.