In the meantime, the CDC and other experts said, hospitals need to tighten their practices to prevent the spread of germs and doctors should use antibiotics more sparingly . Pharmaceutical companies are already working on new antibiotics. The Dallas Morning News reported the resistance yesterday. Staph bacteria are the No 1 cause of hospital infections. Overall, these 2 million infections kill 60,000 to 80,000 people.
Bacteria can collect on clothing, blankets, walls, medical equipment.
Hospital workers can pass them on by hand, and they can cling to tubes into the body. Doctors have long known that many common bacteria are growing resistant to antibiotics. The resistance is attributed to overuse of antibiotics and the failure of some patients to take their medicine properly . Some patients stop taking their medication once they feel better but before the infection has been knocked out, enabling the hardiest germs to survive and multiply. Before antibiotics Staphylococcus aureus was one of the most deadly germs.