Southern California Hospitals Taking Action To Combat Spread of Drug-Resistant 'Superbug'

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recently released data showing that more than 350 cases of potentially dangerous drug-resistant bacteria have been reported at several health care facilities in Southern California.

The bacteria — called carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP — spreads through person-to-person contact and is resistant to nearly all antimicrobial agents. Patients in long-term care facilities, people undergoing prolonged hospitalizations and those taking long courses of antibiotics are most susceptible to the infection.

In a California Healthline Special Report by Mina Kim, experts discussed how hospitals are taking steps to combat CRKP and other drug-resistant bacteria.

The Special Report includes comments from:

Julia Hallisy, co-founder of the Empowered Patient Coalition; and
Jim Lott, executive vice president of the HospitalÂ Association of Southern California;
Greg Moran, physician at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center (Kim, California Healthline, 4/13).

The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as a PDF.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Southern California Hospitals Taking Action To Combat Spread of Drug-Resistant ‘Superbug’</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2011-04-13T00:00:00-07:00">
			April 13, 2011		</time>
		</div>
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health <a href="http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/Diseases/Klebsiella.htm">recently released data</a> showing that more than 350 cases of potentially dangerous drug-resistant bacteria have been reported at several health care facilities in Southern California.The bacteria — called carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP — spreads through person-to-person contact and is resistant to nearly all antimicrobial agents. Patients in long-term care facilities, people undergoing prolonged hospitalizations and those taking long courses of antibiotics are most susceptible to the infection.In a California Healthline Special Report by Mina Kim, experts discussed how hospitals are taking steps to combat CRKP and other drug-resistant bacteria.The Special Report includes comments from:<ul><li>Julia Hallisy, co-founder of the Empowered Patient Coalition; and </li><li>Jim Lott, executive vice president of the HospitalÂ Association of Southern California; </li><li>Greg Moran, physician at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center (Kim, California Healthline, 4/13).</li></ul>The complete transcript of this Special Report is <a href="https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2011/04/chlspecialreporttranscript041311.pdf">available as a PDF</a>.<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.

Some elements may be removed from this article due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about available photos or other content, please contact khnweb@kff.org.