CDC Warns Of Drug-Resistant Bacteria...01/07/00

ATLANTA (AP) - The government is warning hospitals that some strains of Staph bacteria may be drug-resistant after confirming that a woman died from a heart valve infection that didn't respond to antibiotics. The death in April of the 63-year-old Illinois woman was the first confirmed U.S. death from a Staph infection that didn't respond to vancomycin, the antibiotic of last resort for lingering infections, said a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC warned that some strains of Staphylococcus aureus are showing signs of resistance to vancomycin.