Superbug Requires Global Response Now!

 This Superbug is frightening not only the general population, but doctors and scientists as well. If you have a bacteria that is resistant to all known medicines and has access to worldwide traffic, that's potential disaster. In the following article, Patrice Nordmann of France's Bicetre Hospital says, "There is an urgent need, first, to put in place an international surveillance system over the coming months and, second, to test all the patients admitted to any given health system' in as many countries as possible". Too right!
   .  . June

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'Time bomb' superbug requires global response: doctor
AFP:



 BOSTON, Massachusetts — A new superbug from India thought to be resistant to nearly every known antibiotic poses a global threat, scientists warned Monday, urging health authorities to track the bacteria.


'There is an urgent need, first, to put in place an international surveillance system over the coming months and, second, to test all the patients admitted to any given health system' in as many countries as possible, said Patrice Nordmann of France's Bicetre Hospital.

'For the moment, we don't know how fast this phenomenon is spreading... it could take months or years, but what is certain is that is will spread,' he told AFP, noting that measures have already been agreed in France and are under discussion in Japan, Singapore and China.

"It's a bit like a time bomb.

Nordmann was in Boston for the 50th annual meeting of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), the world's largest gathering of infectious disease specialists, which is drawing some 12,000 people here September 12-14.

The head of Bicetre's department of bacteriology and virology noted that the bacteria will find fertile ground in India's massive 1.3 billion-person strong population, and could easily be carried back and forth by the country's massive diaspora.

The so-called "superbug," dubbed NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1), and its variants appear to have originated in India and were first detected in Britain in 2007.

Read More . . .

Misuse Of Antibiotics Largely Responsible For Creating Drug-Resistant Bugs

 I completely agree with the premise of the following article. The misuse of antibiotics is definitely largely responsible for creating drug-resistant bugs. I believe our family doctors have been much more attuned to this fact than major hospitals. For several years now we've been getting general advice rather than antibiotics to combat our minor infections. Reducing the antibiotic use I believe is absolutely crucial to combating this problem.
    . . . June


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Misuse of antibiotics:
Business Standard  | 2010-09-13 10:11:00

The government of India has reportedly constituted a committee to formulate a policy for the rational use of antibiotics. This is in response to a report in a globally reputed medical journal on a drug-resistant bacteria or superbug, which has been found to be currently confined to the subcontinent. A superbug represents the end of the road in fighting infections with newer drugs as bacteria become resistant to older ones. So, the only way to prevent getting to that stage is to slow down resistance to antibiotics by ensuring that they are used sparingly. A policy is welcome, indeed, to have uniform norms for the whole country in this battle.

Today individual players in health care do pretty much what they think is sensible and can thus cancel out each other’s efforts. Formulating a policy by putting eminent heads together is the easier part of the battle. But implementing that policy, even if it contains deterrent penalties, is difficult.
The task ahead is Herculean, because it requires a change of culture both on the part of doctors and patients. In a country where a significant portion of the people cannot afford most useful medicines, doctors routinely over-prescribe antibiotics to those who consult them. What is worse, patients are often dissatisfied with a doctor who may advise that, say, a viral infection should be roughed out if it does not get serious and not be pointlessly treated with antibiotics. This is, of course, just a little better than in China where many patients are not satisfied unless a doctor prescribes an injectable. Poor and uninformed patients in India also routinely use an older prescription to treat a new ailment whose symptoms appear similar, and then do not complete a course once undertaken. Further, although antibiotics are to be sold only against prescriptions, chemists routinely sell them over the counter, acting as makeshift doctors in response to patients’ narration of symptoms and request for some golian (tablets).
The regulatory system can begin with implementing the policy in hospitals which should adopt the right treatment protocols and — very important — remain clean so that they don’t become a serious source of infection. Overcrowded government hospitals are a major worry on the latter. But it is far more difficult to re-educate doctors.

Read on . . .