http://www.boston.com/dailynews/148/world/Report_Drug_resistant_E_coli_h:.shtml

Report: Drug-resistant E. coli hits retirement homes in Toronto

By Associated Press, 5/28/2001 13:43

TORONTO (AP) Health authorities are fighting a drug-resistant strain of E. coli that has infected residents at eight retirement homes and may have contributed to five deaths, a newspaper reported Monday.

At least 100 people in the Toronto area have been infected with the strain, Dr. Donna Reynolds, a health official, was quoted as saying in the Toronto Star. Five ''extremely elderly'' people who were originally admitted to the hospital in July died from medical conditions that may have been complicated by the E. coli strain, she said.

''Most people can fight off the infection, but it can be extremely serious for the frail and elderly who are suffering from other underlying illnesses,'' Reynolds said.

The revelation comes a year after North America's worst contamination of E. coli killed seven people and sickened 2,300 others in the town of Walkerton, 90 miles west of Toronto.

But Reynolds said the latest cases were completely different from that waterborne outbreak.

E. coli is an intestinal bacterium that causes cramps, diarrhea and, in extreme cases, kidney failure. The current strain is a variation of a common bacterium found in the digestive tract that has developed a resistance to antibiotics, she said.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001

Answers

That's scary. I've posted one or two UK articles about drug-resistant strains of various bacteria and, quite recently, US and UK reports on drug-resistant AIDS strains. From what I recall, the experts have run out of new antibiotics. Only temporary, I hope.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001