Drugs will kill CRE colonies

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Particular antibiotics are effective in eliminating colonies of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in asymptomatic carriers of the deadly bacteria, according to clinical research.

The study involved 152 patients at a hospital in Israel. Of these, 50 received orally administered, nonabsorbable antibiotics for up to 60 days. They took either gentamicin, colistin or a combination. 

The antibiotics had a 44% success rate for eradicating CRE colonization, the researchers found. Colistin performed best, at 50%. 

Only 7% of control group patients had their CRE colonization eradicated.

Findings appeared in the American Journal of Infection Control.