Unbeatable Superbug from India :O(
We should never have given up the Raj :O(
A superbug that is resistant to antibiotics and has 'an alarming potential to spread' has reached Britain.
Thirty-seven cases have already been reported, mainly among patients who have had surgery or other treatments in foreign countries.
Scientists have warned that the superbug - an enzyme called New Delhi-Metallo-1 - could spread worldwide because it is resistant to almost all antibiotics and nothing is being developed to combat it.
It has been found in patients travelling to areas of Asia for cosmetic surgery, cancer treatment and transplants, who have then returned to Britain for further care.
The enzyme New Delhi-Metallo-1 or NDM-1 was first reported in a Swedish patient in 2008. This patient had previously received medical treatment in India.
A spate of cases have since been reported in the UK. Many of these patients had gone to India or Pakistan for elective operations such as cosmetic surgery.
In 2009, the Health Protection Agency issued an alert reporting that NDM-1 was resistant to most antibiotics.
Today a study in The Lancet confirmed the UK to be the first western country to register the 'widespread presence' of the bacteria.
The researchers said this was 'unsurprising' given the 'historical links between India and the UK.'
They added that the bacteria will probably spread worldwide as India provides cheaper cosmetic surgery for Europe and the U.S as well.
The enzyme can jump easily from one bacterium to another and experts fear it will start attaching itself to more dangerous diseases causing them to become resistant to antibiotics.
Scientists warn in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases that 'it has an alarming potential to spread and diversify'.
Professor David Livermore, from the Health Protection Agency, who co-wrote the research with Professor Timothy Walsh from Cardiff University, said: 'The NDM-1 problem is likely to get progressively worse in the foreseeable future.
'The potential for wider international spread and for NDM-1 to become endemic worldwide are clear and frightening.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1302035/NDM-1-Alert-unbeatable...
Now The Lancet apologises
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lancet-says-sorry-for-Delhi-bug-/articleshow/7261135.cms
This would never have happened if we'd stayed there :O)
"U.S. health officials said on Wednesday there had been three cases so far in the United States -- all from patients who received recent medical care in India, a country where people often travel in search of affordable healthcare.
NDM-1 makes bacteria highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, including the most powerful class called carbapenems. Experts say there are no new drugs on the horizon to tackle it."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67A0YU20100811
New Delhi, India (CNN) -- India has rejected findings of British scientists about a new form of drug-resistant "superbug" infecting patients who have traveled to the South Asian nation for treatment.
The Indian health ministry insisted in a written statement Thursday that such organisms were present universally.
"[T]his is a phenomenon which occurs in nature -- in the environment, may be intestines of humans and animals universally. There might be billions of such happenings at any moment," the ministry said.
Health authorities in the country, seen as a cost-effective destination for foreign medical tourists, claimed similar plasmids have been reported from the United States, Israel and Greece as well.
"While such organisms may be circulating more commonly in the world due to international travel but to link this with the safety of surgery hospitals in India and citing isolated examples to show that due to presence of such organism in Indian environment, India is not a safe place to visit is wrong," the ministry said.
It also objected to the naming of the superbug as New Delhi metallo-lactamase-1 and dismissed claims Indian hospitals were not safe for treatment.
The medical journal, The Lancet, said this week that tourists seeking treatment in Asia are bringing home a dangerous type of bacterial infection that's resistant to nearly all known antibiotics.
Doctors identified 29 patients in the United Kingdom with the new infections. Most had traveled to India, Pakistan or Bangladesh for medical procedures, including elective cosmetic surgery. Dozens of patients from Asia also got the infections, according to the researchers from Cardiff University.
The new strains appear to be widespread in south Asian medical centers and have also been spotted in Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States. In June, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) flagged three cases where patients were infected with bacteria carrying the NDM-1 gene. All had undergone medical care in India.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/13/india.superbug.reaction/index.html?hpt=T2#fbid=aVTzAvjUTHG&wom=false
this is not the first time this medical journal 'lancet' has attacked the indian medical system or the alternate treatment methods practised in india.
people would recall, some years back they came up with an article on homeopathy and said the pills are just 'placebo' and it is just fooling the patients. the world knows homeopathy works in many cases where english medicines are useless.
indian medical tourism is flourishing because of the country's high quality hospitals which come at a reasonable price for the westerners. this actually hurts the western medical world and thus the conspiracy..
btw, when aids virus was first detected it was not named USA-1....then why this one is named after the capital of the country, NEW DELHI METALLO-1
stinking conspiracy..
brit stop callin me :P LOL
well what ever it is it's scary considering the number of people from the sub-continent in the Middleast.
From where did H1N1 start spreading? It was from the west. Now they are simply creating a roar as the news itself says all are travelling to India for Surgery at a cheaper charge. So you know the motive behind all these. They just want to stop people visiting India for medical treatment. Hope the truth is unveiled soon.
Ramadan Kareem
Then the oldest guy with the Heart transplant shouldn't make it out of India alive...lol
Another H1N1 like propaganda to scare medical tourist to India.
Lol .. Actually I changed the title because It wouldn't fit in the post.. :O)
I originaly read it in another paper which said "
"Doctors believe they have been carried by people travelling from India.
The British cases involved patients who had undergone surgery in India. The antibiotic-resistant superbugs are found in some communities, hospitals and clinics in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. "
its true bacteria is fast mutating and becoming immuned to different anti-biotics...this goes with the theory of evolution.
medical science will soon catch up...that is, it will come up with an anti-biotic which can choke it..
however, if the bug is existing in india for some years, we must have developed the antibodies for it too.
I didnt do it!
That super bug actually only affects the coastal and populated towns adjacent to the Ganges river.
Unfortunatly millions of people do bathe's on those holy and super pollutated waters.
It is time for over population curtailment...
or don't do it at all... go NDM-1 !
The article is also suggesting that is the carriers are people who hav had cosmetic and other surgeries in the sub-continent. Which may reverse the growing trend of Medical Tourist to India?
BE is racist for changing the heading of the article.
Thats indeed the case whyteknight....it happens for allmost all....problems from these countries but aired by others and then solutions from where? Guess? obviously the benefit goes to the same group huh?!
Anyways...the superbug is spreading and at this point of time..it is in the conquering mood!!!!!
wow! sounds interesting britexpat! go-go-goooooooo!
The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great, and coordinated international surveillance is needed,'' the authors wrote. Aside from the U.K., the resistant gene has also been detected in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the U.S. and Sweden. The researchers said that since many Americans and Europeans travel to India and Pakistan for elective procedures like cosmetic surgery, it was likely the superbug would spread worldwide.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Superbug-on-the-prowl-in-India-UK-scientists-warn-of-worldwide-spread/articleshow/6293126.cms
I hear that it originates from well endowed good looking females.. Perhaps I should go to India and check the source..
Now with a spate of cases being reported in the UK already, stopping all travel to India may not help much ;-)
An over-priced medicine developed by someone in the Advanced Developed world to fight this enzyme will be out once the panic spreads to all parts of the world ;o)
As per your link
A team of experts has tracked the enzyme in Britain, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and believes it to be more widespread than first thought.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1302035/NDM-1-Alert-unbeatable-superbug-spread-worldwide.html#ixzz0wIGOEgQN
should I say more
Stop all travel to India :)
So would mean that Indian BuG will dominate the whole world? This is really frightening, especially the beast can resist antibiotics!
Metallo 1 named in Indian cricket team for Sri Lankan tour, selectors say 'v need any help v can get, and this thing is unbeatable'.
Does that mean Pajju is a Wookie ??
The Empire strikes back?
BBC says it from India and Pakistan..:)