Paramedics arrive with a patient at the Brasilia's Base Hospital, where 3 patients died from super bacteria KPC.

RIO DE JANEIRO - A drug-resistant bacteria has claimed 18 lives in Brazil's capital region this year, local media reported Saturday.

The bacteria - Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC) - is resistant to most of the common antibiotics on the Brazilian market, the report said.

Infections in the capital area have hit 108 this year, of whom 18 patients have died, the reports said. In Sao Paulo, there have been more than 70 cases in the Hospital de Clinicas (HC) alone since 2008, the reports added.

"More cases are being reported at a higher rate, and that has us concerned," HC infection control expert Ana Sara Levin told the daily Estado de Sao Paulo.

KPC is resistant to many antibiotics including penicillin.