Inside New Yorks superbug crisis and the bad habit thats fueling antibiotic resistance

Forget bedbugs and cockroaches — NYC is battling “superbugs” that can’t easily be quashed.Candida auris, for one, survives on surfaces even after cleaning, frequently evades standard antifungal treatments and can trigger fatal bloodstream infections.New York has seen a steady increase in Candida auris cases since the state officially detected the dangerous fungus in 2016.Statewide last year, there were 623 clinical cases (those who became sick from Candida auris) and 849 surveillance cases (those who tested positive but weren’t ill).A study last year determined that the NYC/New Jersey metro area accounts for nearly 20% of the US’s Candida auris cases, with researchers pinpointing high-volume travel and trade with South Asia as the source of the surge.Candida auris isn’t the only savage superbug waging germ warfare in NYC — medical experts warn that overuse of antibiotics is fueling a rise in “nightmare bacteria” that have developed resistance to most known drugs.“When somebody has a viral illness, they have a respiratory cold, [an] antibiotic [will] have zero benefit to them, but will have more potential toxicity, both in terms of side effects and reactions, but also in the development of resistance,” Dr.

Aaron Glatt, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai South Nassau, told The Post.“The entire opportunity here is for people to use the antibiotics appropriately.”Antibiotics should be used to treat or prevent bacterial infections such as strep throat, urinary tract infections and bacterial pneumonia.They shouldn’t be used to address viral infections like colds, flu, COVID-19 or most sore throats because they are ineffective against these ailments and contribute to antibiotic resistance.Bacteria primarily develop antibiotic resistance through natural genetic mutations.These resistant strains then spread their genetic material to other bacteria.Last fall, the World Health Organization noted that 1 in 6 bacteria...