The Killers Within: The deadly rise of drug-resistant bacteria by Michael Shnayerson and Mark Plotkin, Little, Brown, $24.95, ISBN 0316713317
A retired New York detective on kidney dialysis became infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Because the bug was resistant to methicillin, his doctor prescribed vancomycin and sent him home. But his illness worsened and he died 12 hours after readmission to hospital. The bacterium did not respond to vancomycin either.
Just one of many stories in The Killers Within that illustrate the human consequences of the burgeoning horror posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Michael Shnayerson and Mark Plotkin are bang up to…
