‘Superbug’ hysteria may have subsided; the true antibiotic problem remains

Perhaps you missed last week’s coverage of a new “superbug.” If so, here’s a recap. ... First came the heads-up notice from British researchers, detailed in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, about an antibiotic-resistant bacterium that appeared to have made its way to the United Kingdom from Asia; this, in turn, led to a few days of hysteria-filled headlines (one standout: “Superbug Panics World”).

The furor died down fairly quickly, replaced by concerns about a spouse’s potential to cheat and hearing loss in teenagers. Here’s Los Angeles Times staff writer Thomas H. Maugh II putting it in perspective: “Fears of a new superbug from Asia may be overblown, experts say.”

But the specter of increasingly ineffective antibiotics has not faded, despite some progress against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, in healthcare settings. (Read that story: “Dangerous staph infections declining, study shows.”)

Chicago Tribune staff writer Trine Tsouderos writes in this recent assessment of the antibiotic pipeline:

“We have come to expect that modern medicine can cure just about any infection. But bacteria are finding ways to evade, one by one, the drugs in our arsenal, and that arsenal is not being replenished with new antibiotics. ... At the core of the problem is a regulatory impasse over whether drug companies seeking FDA approval for antibiotics should be required to run much more stringent clinical trials.”

Read the full story: “Arsenal of antibiotics not being restocked.”

Similarly, Times staff writer Andrew Zajac recently highlighted the look (back, as it turns out) toward older antibiotics.

He quotes John S. Bradley, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the UC San Diego School of Medicine as saying, “People are going all the way back to the original antibiotics that were shelved because of toxicity. We are desperate.”

Read full story: “Doctors reconsider old antibiotics despite hazards.”

As doctors search for answers, the balance between hysteria and well-founded worry appears to be one we’ll all have to find in coming years.

-- Tami Dennis / Los Angeles Times