Asian super bug hits the UK.

M.today

West Middlesex, August 12:  Researchers in Britain have identified a new superbug gene named New Delhi Metallo 1 (NDM1) prevalent in India that could spread widely in the UK, raising fears that it could lead to a surge in antibiotic resistance.

 

The gene alters bacteria making them resistant to nearly all known antibiotics.

"A new type of resistance has emerged in India, this so-called "NDM-1" enzyme which destroys some of the most powerful antibiotics we have. It’s transferable between bacteria, it’s moved to different species, many are already very resistant, so we end up with these extremely resistant bacteria, some of which are circulating in India and some of which have been imported with patients back into the United Kingdom," said Professor David Livermore from the Health Protection Agency.

 

The superbug gene, which can be swapped between different bacteria to make them resistant to most drugs, has so far been identified in 37 people who returned to the UK after undergoing surgery in India or Pakistan.


"I think in the UK we don’t actually have to hit the panic button at the moment. We have 50 patients who are presented with this ostensibly in the last year and a half, and that is much, much smaller than for instance the number of cases of MRSA. So, there’s actually much difference, it’s vastly different. But within India for instance we have (inaudible) coming out of India that have infected Indian and Pakistani patients that are pan-resistant to antibiotics, in other words, completely resistant, and therefore we have nothing left to treat them with, and from that point of view I think we should be very concerned," said Tim Walsh, Professor of Medical Microbiology at Cardiff University.

The threat is being seen as a serious global public health problem as there are few suitable new antibiotics in development and none that are effective against NDM-1. The Department of Health in Britain has already put out an alert on the issue.

 

Government says superbug not linked to India

New Delhi, August 12:  India has rejected a controversial study linking a new superbug in UK to surgeries in the country.
 
The bug NDM-1 or New Delhi Metallo-1, said to be resistant to the most powerful antibiotics, has even been named after New Delhi

India says it’s an attempt to target the flourishing medical tourism industry, which is making rapid progress providing treatment and surgeries to global patients at significantly lower costs. The sector has been estimated at Rs. 1,200 crore.

"This phenomena is not India centric, the superbug is everywhere. It is wrong to blame India, its hospitals, and our drug policy. Indian hospitals are world class. This gives a very wrong message. We will register protest,"  said V M Katoch, Secretary of Health Research.

 

The health ministry said the conclusions of the article are loaded with inference that these resistance genes or organisms possibly originated in India and it may not be safe for patients in the United Kingdom to opt for surgery in India.

It said the contents of the article present a "frightening picture" which is not supported by any scientific data.

Questions are also being raised about why the research was sponsored by two big pharma companies who may gain from the findings.

"When India is emerging as a medical tourism destination, this type of news is unfortunate and may be a sinister design of multinational companies to defame the Indian medical sector," BJP leader S S Ahluwalia said in the Rajya Sabha.


The superbug gene, which can be swapped between different bacteria to make them resistant to most drugs, has so far been identified in 37 people who returned to the UK after undergoing surgery in India or Pakistan.

The threat is being seen as a serious global public health problem as there are few suitable new antibiotics in development and none that are effective against NDM-1. The Department of Health in Britain has already put out an alert on the issue.