This Drug-Resistant Superbug Really Scares Me!

This really frightens me. Don't we already have enough drug-resistant bugs and hospital-grown infections happening in our own country without importing them from elsewhere? The article below takes the issue from the standpoint of India, but I think our concern needs to begin at home.



. . . June

Superbug scare raises hackles in India
By Sunrita Sen Aug 13, 2010, 10:50 GMT

New Delhi - A British article claiming a drug-resistant superbug came from India was 'biased' and could be aimed against the country's booming medical tourism industry, Indian medical professionals and scientists said Friday.

The study in the British medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases said a new antibiotic-resistant enzyme had emerged in India, Pakistan and Britain.

The enzyme, named New Delhi metallo-beta lactamase (NDM-1), can lead to fatal multiple organ failure.

The report, based on laboratory studies in the three countries, concluded that the superbug may have originated in India and 'will likely spread worldwide.'

It said the enzyme could impregnate widespread bacteria such as escherichia coli and was resistant to common antibiotics.

Britain's Health Protection Agency said it had identified bacteria with the offending enzyme in at least 50 patients. 'Most, not all, had previously travelled to the Indian subcontinent, and many had received hospital treatment there,' the agency said in a statement.

The Indian government in a release Thursday said the conclusions of the report were 'loaded with inference' and presented a 'frightening picture which is not supported by scientific data.'

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It's a little frightening to think that we could be importing superbugs from other countries, isn't it? Would you go to another country for surgery?  leave a comment


. . . June