Antibiotic Resistant ‘Superbug’ Threatens Medical Clinics

Posted by Greg Scott _Featured_, Pathogens Thursday, October 28th, 2010

Health experts in the UK are reporting that it may be impossible to curtail a new strain of superbug which has appeared in hospitals and medical clinics around the country.  The bug is actually a bacteria named, New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 which so far has started in the Asian countries of India, China, and Taiwan as well as western nations such as Britain, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, the US, and Sweden.

The reason the NDM-1 bacteria has become a threat is that it contains the same enzyme as E.coli but this bacteria is resistant to treatment and almost impossible to eliminate.  There are two antibiotics that can stop NDM-1 and one of them is toxic and only used in rare cases.  The other treatment can’t be used if the patient has a urinary tract infection which can be caused by E.coli.

Medical officals are confident this superbug will not become a pandemic since the bacteria can only travel between other bacteria and not people which is most common at hospitals and medical clinics.  The best way to prevent getting infected is to practice good hygiene and wash your hands frequently.  British and Indian medical experts have published a paper which says that the superbug was most likely linked to medical tourism in India and Pakistan.

Sources: whatsonxiamen.com and channel4news.com

Photo: Creative Commons prep4md