Is Re-Emerging Superbug the Next MRSA?

MAYWOOD, Ill. – Dr. Ed Corboy had no idea what was afflicting his 80-year-old mother, Joan Corboy. All he knew for certain was that since being treated for what was a routine diarrheal infection, she seemed to be wasting away and none of her doctors or other health specialists could explain why.

"She lost almost 55 pounds between July Fourth and Christmas in 2006," said Corboy, a resident of Wilmette, Ill. "She was so sick, so weak and despite the best care of her doctors, she was getting weaker. It was clear she was in big trouble."

Afraid that his mother was running out of time, Corboy called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta for advice. Dr. Clifford McDonald told him the infection his mother probably had was of the NAP1 type of the bacteria Clostridium difficile, a virulent strain of a common intestinal bacteria currently plaguing hospitals that now rivals the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as one of the top emerging disease threats to humans.