Deadly superbug outbreak at UCLA, some 200 exposed
RT.com
February 19, 2015
At least two people have died and a further seven exposed to a deadly strain of drug-resistant superbug bacteria at a hospital on the UCLA campus. Authorities are notifying 179 more people that have potentially been exposed.
The enterobacteriaceae (CRE) can be fatal in as many as half of all cases if the bacteria reach the bloodstream.
The university discovered the outbreak last month, while running tests on a patient. It will now test the other 179 people it believes to be infected. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention are currently assisting the LA County Department of Public Health in investigating further effects.
Doctors at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center, where the outbreak occurred, believe the moment of infection happened “during complex endoscopic procedures that took place between October 2014 and January 2015,” according to CBS.
“These outbreaks at UCLA and other hospitals could collectively be the most significant instance of disease transmission ever linked to a contaminated reusable medical instrument,” believes Larence Muscarella, a safety consultant at Ronald Reagan.
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