"Hospital Plumbing A 'Vast, Resilient Reservoir' Of Superbugs"

"Hospital plumbing is a “vast” reservoir of drug-resistant superbug germs, researchers reported Tuesday.

Checks of the plumbing at the National Institutes of Health’s flagship hospital outside Washington, D.C. show drains can be loaded with dangerous bacteria. It’s likely other hospitals have the same problem, the NIH researchers said.

And they’re breeding down there, passing along their drug-resistant properties to other species of germs on little cassettes of genetic material called plasmids, the study found."

Maggie Fox reports for NBC News February 6, 2018.