California advances bill to track deadly superbug infections

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The California Senate Committee on Health unanimously approved a law that would better track deadly superbug infections.

SB 43 would track antibiotic-resistant infections and deaths by establishing a statewide public health surveillance system.

The bill would require:

- Hospitals and clinical labs that test for antibiotic resistance to submit annual data to the state public health department.

- The department to devise a method to estimate the number of deaths resulting from superbugs each year.

- The department to publish an annual report on the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant infections and deaths in California.

If the bill were to be approved, it would be the first system of its kind in the U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of those infections.