NDM-1 "superbug", quickly spreading worldwide,

[chua_riwap]

I saw this news item on News on Q (QTV 11), about this new bacteria known as the "superbug", that resists the strongest antibiotics.

This is really frightening. Sana di ito makaabot sa Pinas....:pope:



http://www.leaderpost.com/technology...135/story.html

NDM-1 superbug resists the strongest antibiotics


A new bacteria that has emerged in India -- dubbed NDM-1 and resistant to even the strongest antibiotics -- is quickly spreading worldwide, British researchers say in a report published Wednesday in the medical journal The Lancet.

It has already been found in an Alberta resident. And a Canadian medical researcher says that anyone in this country who has been treated in hospitals in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh needs to visit a doctor to look for the superbug.

Cardiff University investigators in Wales say that in just 21/2 years, NDM-1 has been identified in 37 people in the U.K., at least 17 of whom had travelled to India or to Pakistan earlier to undergo surgery. The first case was identified in 2008 when European doctors found the bacteria in a Swedish patient who had surgery in New Delhi.

Another 140 cases were recorded in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Infected patients were also identified in Australia, U.S., Holland and Sweden, illustrating the superbug's potential to exponentially sweep the planet, said Mark Toleman, a co-author of the report. The fact that it has been identified in several countries in a two-year span is already "significant," Toleman said.

Scientists are sounding warning bells because they're convinced the bacteria, one of the most stubborn and mobile they're discovered so far, will likely lead to a "major global health problem."

"The potential for wider international spread is clear and frightening," their report states.

Added Toleman: "Through the years, we've seen a number of new resistant genes, but this one is very different. In some ways, it turns us back to before the antibiotic era. It's a very real concern."

Researchers learned an unusual gene popping up in E. coli is swapped with different species of harmful bacteria and secretes enzymes that block antibiotics to form the stubborn superbug.

Even though only about 200 cases have been identified worldwide in 21/2 years, a Toronto-based microbiologist says that is enough to cause concern.

"This paper is sending a really important message. It is only the tip of the iceberg, and the number is not relevant because we can't tell how big this iceberg is," said Allison McGeer, a laboratory medicine professor and director of infection control at Toronto's Mt. Sinai hospital.

"It is threatening. Enzymes like these spread around the world really quickly and they are jeopardizing our ability to treat common infections," she said.

Johann Pitout, a University of Calgary medical researcher and member of the school's Infectious Diseases Research Group, said Canadians should report recent visits to South Asian hospitals when they return to Canada for medical treatment because they could carry the bug.

"There are no new antibiotics available to treat these infections. There are no new future antibiotics available at the moment and this particular bacteria doesn't give us any alternatives to work with. The best, most powerful antibiotic we have, this thing can destroy," Toleman said.

He said researchers were startled when they learned the bacteria was also thriving in the community and not just in hospitals, where superbugs are usually found.

Anyone with auto-immune disorders, such as HIV, chemotherapy patients, youth and the elderly, are most vulnerable to falling severely ill to this bacteria, Toleman warned. About a handful of people who had the infection died in South Asia and in the U.K., but the researchers can't directly link their deaths to the superbug.

[niky]

I saw this news item on News on Q (QTV 11), about this new bacteria known as the "superbug", that resists the strongest antibiotics.

This is really frightening. Sana di ito makaabot sa Pinas....:pope:



http://www.leaderpost.com/technology...135/story.html

Scary. Saw this on the news last night. Scary in that if the gene jumps to a more deadly bacterial strain, there's the potential for another plague, right there.