The White House has backed a plan to fight superbugs — via the tracking of infections, faster tests and new drugs — and has asked Congress for $1.2 billion over five years to implement the program. If successful, the CDCs efforts could potentially save the country 7.7 billion in medical cost.
The White House plan lays out a five-point approach:
- Slow the emergence of resistant bacteria and prevent the spread of resistant infections.
- Strengthen national One-Health surveillance efforts to combat resistance.
- Advance development and use of rapid and innovative diagnostic tests for identification and characterization of resistant bacteria.
- Accelerate basic and applied research and development for new antibiotics, other therapeutics, and vaccines.
- Improve international collaboration and capacities for antibiotic-resistance prevention, surveillance, control, and antibiotic research and development.
There is not a great deal of detail to achieve these goals but bringing more money and attentions to the problem will help. One of the key elements is to reduce the over use of antibiotics by improving the communication between healthcare facilities. When a patent is transferred from a acute care facility to long-term care the information hand off is critical and the steps taken for continued care can mean the difference between a readmission and full recovery.
To learn more about the White House Plan to reduce the Super Bugs and the spread of infection.