After a strain of E. coli resistant to colistin was discovered in a Pennsylvania woman, Pittsburgh hospitals are expressing confidence in their ability to handle the superbug, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times.
"We feel as prepared as anyone could be for this kind of colistin-resistant E. coli," Tami Minnier, the chief quality officer of UPMC, told the paper.
Allegheny General Hospital is focusing on its antibiotic stewardship program, which has been in place for more than a decade. Thomas Walsh, MD, the medical director of the hospital's antimicrobial stewardship program, told the Business Times this superbug "should serve as another reminder that we really need to ramp up our efforts in not just decreasing antibiotic utilization but to restock the pipeline and develop new antibiotics and non-antibiotic strategies."