With the January outbreak of the “nightmare bacteria” in a Chicago hospital, local nurses say the superbug influx is becoming an everyday reality.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, also known as the “nightmare bacteria,” is a bacterial infection that largely infects patients who are receiving treatment for other conditions.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae is one of the emergent superbugs that are popping up in healthcare facilities worldwide. What separates these superbugs from other bacterial infections is they are highly resistant to antibiotics. While not all of these bacterial infections are fatal, they can be if not properly treated.

“The loss of effective antibiotics will undermine our ability to fight infectious diseases and manage the infectious complications common in vulnerable patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, dialysis for renal failure and surgery, especially organ transplantation, for which the ability to treat secondary infections is crucial,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a 2013 report.

Graduate nursing student Nicole Atanasoff has experience dealing with the superbugs in her workplace at Swedish American Hospital and Heartland Hospice in Rockford.

“Many patients have them. We put them on isolation if they have a history [of MRSA],” Atanasoff said. “If you’ve been in a [health facility] in the past six months we have to test you.”

Atanasoff said most infections aren’t treated because they’re considered colonized, where the bacteria is on a person’s skin and isn’t likely to cause disease or infection.

“Typically there’s no symptoms if it’s colonized,” Atansoff said. “But if they have signs of infection — like fever, mental status change, pain, aches — they could check blood cultures if it’s spread to the blood.”

Lizzy Freeman, nursing student at Kishwaukee College and a certified nursing assistant at the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center, said “[superbugs] are something you see pretty often working in healthcare.”

Freeman said there’s been a large number of residents with infections like MRSA.

“They are typically residents who had spent time in the hospital,” Freeman said.

Atanasoff said part of the problem with fighting off MRSA is people taking antibiotics when it’s not always necessary.

“People who take antibiotics for everything get rid of the bad bacteria but also the good bacteria […] that fights off diseases,” Atanasoff said.

“That’s why doctors get scrutinized for passing out antibiotics like candy.”