03/08/2013

‘Nightmare Bacteria’ Defy Even Last-Ditch Drugs

16:20 minutes

‘Nightmare bacteria,’ strains of superbugs resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics, have quadrupled in number in the last decade–and have been found lurking in hospitals in 42 states. NIH epidemiologist Tara Palmore and infectious disease specialist Brad Spellberg discuss how to find and contain these bugs, and a few ways we might outsmart them.

Segment Guests

Tara Palmore

Tara Palmore is a deputy hospital epidemiologist at the NIH Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Brad Spellberg

Brad Spellberg is Chief Medical Officer at the LAC+USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

Meet the Producer

About Christopher Intagliata

Christopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.