Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013 report

in people allergic to penicillin, but resistance to macrolides is increasing and has made
them less useful.
Methicillin: An antibiotic derived from penicillin. It was previously used to treat bacteria
such as Staphylococcus aureus.
Microbiology: The study of microorganisms.
Microorganism: Organisms so small that a microscope is required to see them. This term
includes bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses.
Morbidity: The number of people who are infected with a specified illness in a given
time period.
Mortality: The number of people who die in a given time from a specified illness.
MRSA: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is used to describe any strain of S. aureus
that is resistant to all types of penicillin (not just methicillin) as well as cephalosporin.
Multidrug-resistant (MDR): Microorganisms that are resistant to multiple classes of
antimicrobials. The exact number of drugs that a microorganism is resistant to varies
depending on the infection or pathogen.
NARMS: The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System monitors antimicrobial
resistance in foodborne and other enteric bacteria, including Salmonella, Campylobacter,
Shigella, Escherichia coli O157, and Vibrio (non-V. cholerae). NARMS is a collaboration among
CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), and state and local health departments.
Narrow-spectrum antibiotic: An antibiotic that is active against a limited range of
bacteria.
NHSN: CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network is the nation’s most widely used
healthcare-associated infection tracking system. NHSN provides facilities, states, regions,
and the nation with data needed to identify problem areas, measure progress of
prevention efforts, and ultimately eliminate healthcare-associated infections. In addition,
NHSN allows healthcare facilities to track blood safety errors and important healthcare
process measures such as healthcare personnel influenza vaccine status and infection
control adherence rates.
Outbreak: When a group of people develop the same illness around the same time,
and the number of people affected is higher than normal. Outbreak investigations are
conducted to identify what exposure the affected people had in common.
Pan drug-resistance (PDR): Resistance to all drugs that would be considered for treatment.
Exact definitions for PDR differ for each bacteria.
Penicillins: A class of antibiotics including amoxicillin, methicillin, piperacillin and other
drugs based on the first true antibiotic discovered in 1928 by Dr. Alexander Fleming.
Increased resistance has made many types of penicillins less useful.
Pneumonia: An inflammatory condition of the lungs affecting primarily the microscopic air
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