Stamp out superbugs or pay the price, govts warned

Perhaps their size makes them easy to ignore until it's too late. But state and federal governments are being urged to move to stamp out antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' before they overwhelm Australia's hosiptal system. Called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by health professionals, the bugs earned their 'super' tag because they have developed resistance to most of the antibiotics used to treat them. Associate Professor Keryn Christiansen, the president of the Australian Society for Microbiology, says treatment can be very difficult and in some cases almost impossible. "These strains that are coming from the community have added virulence, so they cause more severe disease," she told AM. "One of the diseases that they can cause is a very severe pneumonia, that has quite a high rate of death and can also... [read full story]