NEW YORK - Drug-resistant "superbug" infections have been called a developing nightmare that make conquered germs once again untreatable.
So there's some surprising news in a federal report released Wednesday: U.S. superbug deaths appear to be going down.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated about 36,000 Americans died from drug-resistant infections in 2017. That's down 18% from 2013.
Officials credit an intense effort in hospitals to control the spread of particularly dangerous infections.
But while deaths are going down, the report says infections overall increased nationally. And while superbugs mainly have been considered a hospital problem, they are appearing much more often elsewhere.