“Bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotic, missed by standard tests”

“Emory microbiologists have detected “heteroresistance” to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic, in already highly resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium that causes blood, soft tissue and urinary tract infections.

The results are scheduled for publication in mBio. David Weiss, PhD, director of the Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center, and his colleagues had observed heteroresistance to colistin in other bacteria, called Enterobacter, previously.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which include Klebsiella, were listed as one of the top three urgent antibiotic resistant threats in 2013 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Various types of Klebsiella are estimated to be responsible for 10 percent of infections acquired in health care facilities.”

Source: Infection Control Today