7th superbug victim dies at NIH after outbreak

WASHINGTON – A seventh victim has died at the National Institutes of Health as a result of a superbug outbreak that began last summer.

The Washington Post reports a Minnesota boy died of the bloodstream infection on Sept. 7.

According to the Post, the boy arrived at NIH in April and was being treated for complications from a bone marrow transplant he’d gotten last year. He had a severe immune disorder that increased his risk of getting the superbug and it was first detected in July.

The boy was the 19th at the Bethesda research hospital to contract the strain of antibiotic resistant bacterium, which was first detected at the hospital in August of 2011.

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