Maryland is a hotspot for research and production of superbug-killing bacteriophages. Author: Nathan Baca (WUSA9) Updated: 5:51 PM EDT May 7, 2021
GAITHERSBURG, Md. The CDC says 2.8 million Americans are infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria every year. These so-called “superbugs” often baffle doctors, and can quickly kill.
Elaine Blake of Calvert County, Maryland, lost her 81-year-old mother Lou Ruth Blake, her 58-year-old brother Lowell Frederick Blake and 56-year-old sister Venessa Blake to just such a superbug a decade ago.
The Blakes came down with the H3N2 influenza strain March 2012. It weakened their immune systems, according to Elaine, who was also infected. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria reached their lungs, and Elaine s family was eventually killed by a pneumonia infection brought on by the superbug.