Trending News Today: US Obamacare 2018 Exchange Enrollment Drops 3%

According to a report released on Tuesday, the CDC detected more than 220 cases last year of a rare breed of “nightmare bacteria” that are virtually untreatable and capable of spreading genes that make them resistant to most antibiotics, Kaiser Health News reported. One in 4 germ samples sent to a CDC lab network in 2016 had special genes that allow them to spread their resistance to other germs, according to the article. The CDC determined that aggressively diagnosing and containing such infections can reduce infections by 76%, the article noted.

Approximately 11.8 million individuals enrolled in 2018 Obamacare exchange plans, a 3% drop from last year when 12.2 million individuals signed up, according to Reuters. The tally includes both sign-ups on the exchange run by the federal government for 39 states, which was released on a provisional basis late in 2017, and on the 12 other exchanges run by Washington, DC, and the remaining states, the article noted. Reuters reported that the average premium before tax credits in 2018 is $621 per month, an increase of more than 30% from last year.

Officials with the FDA issued a mandatory recall on Tuesday to a company selling several products containing the herbal supplement kratom and contaminated with Salmonella, USA Today reported. According to the article, the FDA said it issued the order because Triangle Pharmanaturals of Las Vegas refused to cooperate. The company, which promotes itself as a consulting firm, may manufacture, process, pack, and/or hold additional brands of food products containing powdered kratom, the article noted.