CDC: Superbugs cause 1 in 7 infections caught in hospitals

The bugs include the staph infection MRSA (MUR'-suh) and five other bacteria resistant to many kinds of antibiotics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Officials have been pushing hospitals to do a better job keeping infections in check, with the government's Medicare program cutting payments to the worst hospitals.

The CDC looked at data from thousands of U.S. hospitals from 2008 through 2014, focusing on infections tied to certain surgical procedures and use of catheters.

Antibiotics became widely available in the 1940s, and today are used to kill or suppress the bacteria behind everything form strep throat to the plague.