'Superbug' Emerges: "Even Last-Resort Antibiotics Useless"—Now Infecting Infants as Young as 8 Months

Infections in Infants With No History of Hospitalization or Antibiotic Use
Potential for Community-Wide Spread Raised
Limitations of Current Testing Methods for Diagnosis

Related reference photo. Getty Images Bank

A highly pathogenic strain of Salmonella, resistant even to so-called "last-resort" antibiotics known as the final line of defense in the medical community, has been repeatedly detected in southern China, raising alarms among local authorities. It has been confirmed that infants between 8 and 12 months old, who have neither visited a hospital nor received antibiotics, were infected during their daily lives. This suggests that this drug-resistant bacterium may have already become deeply entrenched in the local community.

Confirmed in Infants Under One Year Old

According to a recent study published in the 2026 edition of the international academic journal "Journal of Infection," highly drug-resistant Salmonella was detected in six infants aged 8 to 12 months who were hospitalized for acute diarrhea in hospitals in southern China. None of these infants had any prior history of hospitalization, antibiotic treatment, or visits to areas with high infection risk.

Salmonella is a bacterium that commonly causes food poisoning and can typically be resolved naturally or treated with basic antibiotics in healthy adults. However, in cases where the immune system is immature, such as in infants, the infection can worsen to sepsis, requiring more potent antibiotics.

'Last-Resort' Antibiotics Rendered Powerless

The issue is that the strain identified in this case carries carbapenemase genes. Carbapenems are used as a last-resort treatment when other antibiotics are ineffective, and the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies bacteria resistant to carbapenems as the most dangerous pathogens.

Related material photo. The Asia Business Daily DB

Experimental results showed that this strain exhibited broad resistance to major antibiotics such as penicillins and cephalosporins, and also showed resistance or incomplete response to carbapenem-class antibiotics.

Potential Spread Outside Hospitals

The infection route is also noteworthy. While highly drug-resistant bacteria are typically found in long-term hospitalized or immunocompromised patients, this case was identified in otherwise healthy infants. Based on this, the researchers suggested that the bacteria may already be widespread outside hospital settings.

Genomic analysis further confirmed signs of spread. Some strains were found to be of the same lineage, raising the possibility of transmission through specific routes, while others showed genetic differences, indicating that local spread may be ongoing. Additionally, the resistance genes shared a similar structure with those of other intestinal bacteria, confirming the possibility of gene transfer between bacteria.

The Need for More Precise and Diverse Testing Systems

The researchers also pointed out limitations in the drug resistance testing methods currently used in hospitals. If resistance is determined using only some carbapenem-class drugs, there is a risk of missing strains that are resistant to certain drugs but responsive to others.

In such cases, drug-resistant bacteria may be mistaken for ordinary strains, leading to inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions, which can be especially dangerous for infants as delays in proper treatment could result in fatal outcomes. The researchers emphasized the need to introduce more precise and multifaceted testing systems.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.