CRE superbug now responsible for two deaths in North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A deadly superbug responsible for killing two people in California has now killed two patients in North Carolina, health officials said.

Two patients in the Carolinas Healthcare System have died from carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) since the beginning of 2015.

Alda Mae Crump, 88, died Friday from the disease at Carolina Medical Center Mercy in Charlotte, her family confirmed. The name of the other victim was not released.

There have been 15 patients diagnosed with the infection since the beginning of the year at the healthcare system.

"(CMC) Main is where we've seen more cases than other facilities so we do have dedicated units," Dr. Katie Passaretti, medical director of Infection Prevention at Carolinas HealthCare System, told WCNC.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says CRE belongs to a class of superbug that is generally more resistant to antibiotics than other bacteria.

"When these germs get into the blood, bladder or other areas where germs don't belong, patients suffer from infections that are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to treat," the CDC website says.

"The way CRE is thought to be spread is what we call contact transmission either surfaces that are contaminated or bringing it in through hand transfer through hospital workers or people coming in and out of the hospital," Passaretti said.

Crump's family said she initially visited CMC Lincoln in early December with a urinary tract infection. She was hospitalized multiple times before she was diagnosed with CRE.

"She really suffered," Jolene Church, a family member, told WSOC. "The last few weeks she really suffered."

The bacteria killed two patients at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center in recent months and sickened seven.

Health officials determined the superbug was spread through a duodenoscope, which is commonly used to examine and treat digestive problems. The FDA said the scope is "extremely difficult" to sanitize.

The cause of the outbreak in North Carolina was not revealed.