Hospitals need to take action against the spread of a deadly , antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria , says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The bacteria kill up to half of patients who are infected . The bacteria , called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae or CRE , have increased over the past decade and grown resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics , according to the CDC . In the first half of 2012 , 200 health care facilities treated patients infected with CRE . `` CRE are nightmare bacteria , '' CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a statement . `` Our strongest antibiotics do n't work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections . Doctors , hospital leaders and public health must work together now to implement CDC 's 'detect and protect ' strategy and stop these infections from spreading . '' That strategy includes making sure proper hand hygiene policies in health care facilities are actually followed . Patients should also be screened for CREs , according to the CDC . Infected patients should be isolated , or grouped together to limit exposures . Why 'nightmare bacteria ' on the rise . The good news is that not only is CRE seen relatively infrequently in most U.S. facilities , but current surveillance systems have n't been able to find it commonly in otherwise healthy people in the community , says Dr. Alex Kallen , a CDC medical officer . `` Of course , if this were to ( spread to the community ) , it would make it much more difficult to control , '' he said . Each year , hospital-acquired infections sicken about 1.7 million and kill 99,000 people in the United States . While up to 50 % of patients with CRE bloodstream infections die , similar antibiotic-susceptible bacteria kill about 20 % of bloodstream-infected patients .
Deadly bacteria are called drug - resistant Enterobacteriaceae . 80 % of patients with severe bloodstream infections die . CDC has detailed a ` ` detect and treat '' plan for doctors , hospitals .