Local hospitals prepare for “Nightmare Bacteria” in case it comes to Middle Georgia

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT)- The Centers for Disease Control released a shocking new report of an antibacterial-resistant bacteria called the “Nightmare Bacteria.” Last year, there were more than 200 cases in 27 states of this rare antibiotic-resistant gene.

The drug resistant bacteria is so dangerous, it kills up to half of those infected. 41NBC News spoke with a medical resident at the coliseum medical centers to see just how prepared they are, if there’s ever a nightmare on hospital drive.

“Antibiotic resistance is really a national and world wide problem so in essence everyone has something to worry about,” Coliseum Medical Centers Medical Resident Brandon Kirshner said.

He adds, it’s good the CDC is taking initiative to better understand these new resistant bugs.

“This is the first year that they actually collected all of this nationwide data and it’s very valuable to understand the resistance patterns as well as the growth patterns of these new bacteria,” Kirshner said.

Not only can this bug jump from person to person, it can also infect other bacteria to become resistant. However, Kirshner says he’s confident in Coliseum’s procedures for when Super Bugs like this come through the doors.

“Something called Contact Precaution, Isolation Precaution many different steps to make sure that if a bacterial like that were to come to this hospital that it would stay isolated and not spread to the public,” he said.

Kirshner says a lot of where this resistance is coming from is happening within the community. Due to improper usage and prescribing of antibiotics, people are becoming immune to them.

“Things like the common cold, allergies, viruses – it’s very important that if you do go to the doctor for these symptoms you don’t push upon them to receive antibiotics. We want to help our patients. We’re here for you but 1 in 3 antibiotics really is inappropriately prescribed to the public,” he said.