The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal published a report on Wednesday, Aug 11 on the new gene called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1). This super bug is resistant to almost all kinds of antibiotics including the most powerful class called carbapenems. Super bug is said to be invaded in UK. The reports say that the bacteria NDM-1 has travelled back with NHS patients who went South Asian countries like India and Pakistan for medical treatments. Though 50 cases of such bacterial infection have been identified in UK yet the scientists apprehend that it could spread globally.
Since NDM-1 is resistant to most powerful group of antibiotics, it could produce deadly infections. Obviously, it would be transmitted from one man to another ultimately causing failure to treat the infection.
NDM-1 is a gene carried by bacteria that causes gastric problems, enters the blood stream and may cause multiple organ failure. It becomes dangerous even more when it hits the person suffering from severe bacterial infection. It has the competence to spread rapidly as it is quite able to jump across different bacterial genes.
Such infections have already been communicated from one patient to another in UK hospital. The only way to bring its spread to halt is to diagnose the infection rapidly and keep the patients in isolated rooms in hospitals so that it could not spread any further. According to Lancet Infectious Diseases, tight surveillance and new drugs are required.
So far as India is concerned NDM-1 could prove threat to the health of Indians. The reason is that people in India indulge in self medication; they buy certain antibiotics over the counter without doctor’s prescription sometimes. Moreover they are not customized to continue their treatment as advised by doctor and get down with same clinical problem again and again. The doctors believe that common antibiotics have become ineffective on Indian people.
Super bug is being researched upon jointly by Karthikeyan Kumarasamy from Chennai and Timothy Walsh from department of immunity, infection and biochemistry, department of medicine, Cardiff University. They are examining the prevalence of the bacteria in South Asian countries and UK. They detected super bug in 44 patients in Chennai, and 26 in Haryana, besides 37 in the England and 73 in rest of the South Asian countries.
NDM-1 was first detected in Swedish patient in 2008. He caught the bacterial infection after his surgery in New Delhi. But on these grounds it is quite unfair to put allegations on India that the bacteria are originated here. The Indian Council of Medical Research has alleged a bias in the report and said it is an attempt to hurt medical tourism in the country. Dr VM Katoch, director ICMR said, "Such infections can flow in from any part of the world. It's unfair to say it originated from India.”
Earlier Swine flu came from Mexico but no one called it Mexican Swine flu and Aids is supposed to be originated in Africa but its name is not included in its medical term. Then why this super bug is named after national capital. Dr. Anoop Kohli from Apollo hospital said that the European countries are getting rid of combined trials over the super bug. He insisted that the scientific findings presented in aforementioned journal should be shared with Indian health ministry so that they would generate vigilance over the whole course of action.
However, Indian health ministry is yet to know about the reports of The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal. The officials are having meeting today in Delhi to ponder over this super bug.
