The threat of superbugs

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The CDC released a sobering new report on drug-resistant microbes. It estimates that superbugs are responsible for roughly two million infections and 23,000 deaths a year and warns that these numbers will grow in coming years. Deadly bacteria and fungus are already costing the U.S. health care system tens of billions a year in excess direct costs and lost productivity.  The overuse of antibiotics in livestock production and inappropriate prescribing by physicians are two major contributors driving widespread antibiotic resistance. This hour guest host Maiken Scott talks with two infectious disease experts about the battle against these bad bugs. Our guests are NEIL FISHMAN, Associate Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Chair of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee to the CDC, and THEOKLIS ZAOUTIS, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and Assistant Chief of the Division of Infectious Disease at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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