CDC report shows 15% increase in deaths from antibiotic-resistant “superbugs”

Reuters (7/12, Mishra) says a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows “U.S. deaths from bacteria resistant to antibiotics, also known as ‘superbugs,’ jumped 15% in 2020 as the drugs were widely dispensed to treat COVID-19 and fight off bacterial infections during long hospitalizations, enabling the bugs to evolve.” According to the CDC, over 29,400 people “died from antimicrobial-resistant infections during the first year of the pandemic and that of those, nearly 40% had acquired the infection in hospital.”