superbug

superbug

(so͞o′pər-bŭg′)

n. Informal

A strain of bacteria that has become resistant to most antibiotics.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

superbug

An informal term for an infective micro-organism that has become resistant to antibiotics and is capable of causing serious infection. Rapid evolutionary natural selection forces have ensured that some organisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus and various Enterobacteriaceae , are now resistant to virtually all the earlier antibiotics; and resistance to a range of antibiotics has arisen in numerous other organisms including those causing bacillary dysentery, food poisoning, gonorrhoea and tuberculosis.

Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005

Patient discussion about superbug

Q. Are superbugs contagious through the air? Last week we visited my dad in the hospital, and we noticed that on the next room’s door there was a warning sign. After asking, we were told it was a denoting that the patient inside had a superbug (called klebsiella). On our way out we passed against this patient in the hallway – is it possible that I also carry this superbag? Is it dangerous?

A. Usually these bacteria are transmitted from person to person through direct contact, and less through the air. Moreover, these germs are dangerous in ill and debilitated patients, and not in normal healthy individuals.

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