New staph infection could be
                      impossible to treat

                      August 21, 1997
                      Web posted at: 11:06 p.m. EDT (0306 GMT) 

                      ATLANTA (CNN) -- A bacteria that
                      can fend off one of the most powerful
                      antibiotics -- the last pharmaceutical line
                      of defense -- has appeared in the United
                      States. The rare strain of staphylococcus
                      aureus was first identified three months
                      ago in Japan. 

                      The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced
                      Thursday that a Michigan dialysis patient infected with
                      staphylococcus aureus was not responding completely to the drug
                      vancomycin. The germ showed an intermediate level of resistance
                      to the drug, which is one step away from immunity, officials said. 

                      The patient now is being treated with a combination of drugs,
                      including vancomycin. 

                      This tougher strain of staph was already difficult to treat. Doctors
                      are now worried no treatment will be available for those infected
                      with the deadly bacteria. 

                      Those most at risk are the elderly, those with weak immune
                      systems, hospital patients, newborns and patients with chronic
                      diseases. 

                      But Dr. William Jarvis, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC, said
                      the new strain is rare. "The majority of people aren't going to be in
                      danger of getting this." 

                      The evolution of resistance to antibiotics is inevitable, as bacteria
                      grow and reproduce. "The cell wall has become much thicker,"
                      Jarvis said. "As a result, it is much more difficult for the antibiotic to
                      go across that cell wall and get inside the cell" to kill the organism. 

                      Staph bacteria are the No. 1 cause of hospital infections. They are
                      blamed for about 13 percent of the nation's 2 million hospital
                      infections each year, according to the CDC. Overall, the 2 million
                      infections kill 60,000 to 80,000 people. 

                      The Associated Press contributed to this report.