CRE Infection: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

CRE, which stands for carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, are strains of bacteria that are resistant to carbapenem, a class of antibiotics typically used as a last resort for treating severe infections when other antibiotics have failed. These organisms have been described as "nightmare bacteria" because they have become resistant to nearly all available antibiotics, making CRE infections extremely difficult to treat and potentially deadly.

 The “Nightmare Bacteria”: An Explainer

CR refers to the ability of some of these strains to resist carbapenems, which are a class of potent antibiotics. When they were first developed, they were a godsend, because doctors could use them against bacteria that had become resistant to older drugs like penicillin. But in the 1990s and early 2000s, hospitals started seeing bacteria–members of the Enterobacteriaceae, spefically–that had evolved enzymes that they used to chop up the carbapenems.

Medical Tools That Spread Superbugs Have to Change

CRE will continue its march across the country, accounting for more and more gut infections. Hopefully, in time, hospitals will get the right tools to fight back.

The Epidemiology of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae: The Impact and Evolution of a Global Menace

CRE continue to evolve, posing an increasing threat to patients of all ages. Mechanisms of carbapenem resistance are variable, and the breadth of MGEs in Enterobacteriaceae—carbapenemase genes and other antibiotic resistance mechanisms and virulence determinants—continues to expand.

Where 'Nightmare Bacteria' Came From, And How Our Inattention Helped Them Emerge

When it became recognized that these highly resistant bacteria could travel asymptomatically in the guts of unknowing patients, not enough thought was given to how far they might spread, and so CREs disseminated across the globe.

Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae: Epidemiology and Prevention

This review describes the current epidemiology of CRE in the United States and highlights important prevention strategies.

CRE bacteria: The next superbug threat in your hospital

Without being able to count on carbapenems, the “last resort” class of antibiotic that used to work against other antibiotic resistant Enterobacteriaceae, health care providers are forced to resort to old – and sometimes archaic — treatments.

Deadly CRE Germs Linked to Hard-to-Clean Medical Scopes

Federal officials warned health care providers across the country on Thursday that difficult-to-clean medical scopes inserted down the throat might be infecting patients with deadly drug-resistant bacteria.

New Study Raises Specter of More Bacteria Resistant to Last Line Antibiotics

Asymptomatic carriers of carbapenem-resistant bacteria could be a major driver of hospital infections and the finding “provides further evidence of the need for active surveillance strategies,” says Joshua Thaden, a physician in the Duke University School of Medicine Division of Infectious Disease, who wasn’t involved in the research.

Resistant 'Nightmare Bacteria' Increase Fivefold in Southeastern U.S.

THERE'S WORRISOME NEWS here in the southeastern U.S., buried in a journal that is favorite reading only for superbug geeks like me. The rate at which hospitals are recognizing cases of CRE – the form of antibiotic resistance that is so serious the CDC dubbed it a "nightmare" – rose five times over between 2008 and 2012. Within that bad news, there are two especially troubling points. First, the hospitals where this resistance factor was identified were what is called "community" hospitals, that is, not academic referral centers.

The Superbug Scare Is This Bad

There's reason to believe that a drug-resistant bacteria could be a "catastrophic" health crisis, especially given the lack of a response plan and especially for older people in the United States. No location is exactly safe, but before you freak out, here's some much needed context.

UCLA’s Superbug Isn’t a Public Health Issue…Yet

CRE infection is extremely difficult to cure because so few antibiotics are available with activity against the strain; furthermore, those that are available have issues with side effects. It is a nasty business affecting already ailing people for whom yet another problem may precipitate a tipping point in the wrong direction.

Understanding CRE..

The family of superbugs made headlines two years ago when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned it was spreading. Now, they're back in the news after seven patients at a Los Angeles hospital caught CRE after routine endoscopic treatments for bile ducts, gall bladder or pancreas.

WHO offers guidance on carbapenem-resistant bacteria

As part of World Antibiotic Awareness Week, the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday unveiled the first-ever global guidelines for preventing and controlling three types of carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria in health settings that are highly transmissible, difficult to treat, and can cause severe illness and death.

Why California's Superbug Outbreak Isn't As Scary As It Seems

News reports are describing a "nightmare superbug" killing people in California. But scientists who study infectious diseases say the risk from this outbreak doesn't live up to the alarming headlines.

A woman died from a superbug that outsmarted all 26 US antibiotics

No one else seems to have caught this superbug from the woman. But the authors say a lesson here is that health care workers in the US need to get a history of all the “health care exposures” from their patients with CRE and “consider screening for CRE when patients report recent exposure outside the United States or in regions of the United States known to have a higher incidence of CRE.”

Almost untreatable superbug CPE poses serious threat to patients, doctors warn

Immune to some of the last-line antibiotics available to hospitals, cases of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae are on the rise...

Antibiotic Resistant “Nightmare Bacteria” Have Escaped the Hospital

Infections with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae aren’t always tied to the healthcare system.

Explainer: what is KPC and should I be worried about these superbugs?

Superbugs are back in the news – and everybody loves a good germ panic story. The bugs raising alarm are called KPC (Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase) or CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae). The Enterobacteriaceae (pronounced enter-oh-bact-ear-ee-ay-cee-ee) are a large family of bacteria, which largely live as a normal part of people’s healthy gut bacteria. It includes E. coli as well as some more nasty bugs such as Salmonella and Shigella, which cause gastroenteritis. A member of the family that doesn’t get as much press is Klebsiella. It’s a fairly common cause of infections in hospitals, such as urinary tract infections and pneumonia. Different species also live widely in the environment.

Infections With 'Nightmare Bacteria' Are On The Rise In U.S. Hospitals

These germs, known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, have become much more common in the last decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the risk they pose to health is becoming evident. "What's called CRE are nightmare bacteria," Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, tells Shots. "They're basically a triple threat."

You Should Be Really Scared of the CDC’s ‘Nightmare Bacteria’

Recent reports of this “nightmare bacteria” have grabbed headlines, and there are reports of fatality rates as high as fifty percent. Basically, it’s bad, and the CDC is really worried.