It is not your run of the mill bacterial infection.
In fact, experts in our area are calling it a nightmare.
Dr. Rahul Gupta of the Kanawha – Charleston Health Department said it kills nearly half of the people it infects.
It's called Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE. Doctors have been aware of it for years, but it has been on the rise in recent months.
"The people who become infected with this already have a certain number of chronic medical conditions. They're a sick population to begin with," said Gupta. As a result, the bacteria has only been seen in hospitals and long-term care facilities.
It's resistant to antibiotics. Gupta said this could be a result of over medicating and over prescribing. He says antibiotics should only be used when necessary, not as an end all to all sickness.
Gupta said antibiotics kill off good bacteria, along with bad bacteria, rendering the immune system weaker.
Here in our region, we have seen cases of CRE, but Gupta says it's hard to gather reliable data on the cases because health care facilities are not required to report cases of it to local heath departments in our region. Only five states and Washington D.C. are required to report.
"Often the people who get this are already sick, and this is sometimes the last nail in the coffin," said Gupta.
He said to tackle this superbug, one needs to be taking an active role in their healthcare.
Hand washing with warm, soapy water is imperative.
Gupta said CRE spreads through catheters, so be sure they are being changed as often as they need to be.
To learn more about the RISE of CRE in our region, tune into this week's edition of The State Journal's Decision Makers.
Dr. Gupta will be elaborating more on this "nightmare bacteria" Sunday at 8 a.m. on WOWK.
Stay with 13NEWS for the latest on this developing story.
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