Drug-resistant “superbug” infections have been called a public health threat that could push medical progress back a century. Health experts warn such infections could cause some germs to become untreatable. So there was surprising news in a recent report: superbug deaths in the United States appear to be going down. About 36,000 Americans died from drug-resistant infections in 2017, compared to an estimated 44,000 in 2013. That information comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The recent CDC report says the decrease is mainly the result of a major effort by hospitals to control the spread of very dangerous infections. “We are pushing back in a battle we were losing,” pharmacist Michael Kirsch told The Associated Press. He works at AdventHealth Tampa, a Florida hospital that has noted lower superbug infection rates.