The patients eyes were painfully inflamed. They could sense light but could see almost nothing else. A doctor called one case the worst eye infection he’d ever seen.
NEW YORK — The patients’ eyes were painfully inflamed. They could sense light but could see almost nothing else. A doctor called one case the worst eye infection he’d ever seen. It was the beginning of a national outbreak caused by an extremely worrisome bacteria — one that some say
Experts are marveling at how U.S. disease detectives figured out how eyedrops were linked to dozens of infections. Some nasty eye infections in California led health officials to link a superbug bacteria to potentially contaminated eyedrops imported from India. At last count, 58 Americans in 13 states have been infected. At least one died and at least five suffered permanent vision loss. All were blamed on tainted eyedrops, leading to a recall. Scientists have long worried common bacteria will evolve so that antibiotics no longer work against them. Experts say there is a growing list of bugs that are getting harder to treat.
The patients' eyes were painfully inflamed. They could sense light but could see almost nothing else. A doctor called one case the worst eye infection he'd ever seen. Here's how U.S. officials cracked the case of eyedrops infecting dozens of Americans with drug-resistant bacteria.