Instead of mementos, Brits looking for cheaper nip-and-tucks in India have brought home a new superbug virus that could spread worldwide. A new class of superbug has infected plastic surgery individuals in south Asia who have carried it to the U.K., from where it could spread around the globe. A gene interchangeable among bacteria within the new superbug makes infections resistant to the most powerful antibiotic drugs ever made. While Big Pharma chases lucrative conditions like erectile dysfunction, experts say governments have to do something to encourage more investment in antibiotic research.
Superbug gene helps bacteria defeat antibiotics
A new superbug infection set off alarms that it could spread worldwide after reaching Britain from India via medical tourism. You will find few drugs strong enough to treat it, researchers said. Reuters reports that researchers have found a new gene called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1, in patients in south Asia and in Britain. Most antibiotics, including carbapenems-the most powerful class available, are ineffective on bacteria that are altered by the NDM-1 gene. Experts say there are no new antibiotics in the pipeline to fight it. Timothy Walsh, who led the study, told Reuters he fears the new superbug could soon spread across the globe with international travel for cheap cosmetic surgery procedures increasing.
Superbug multiplies and infects indiscriminately
The superbug gene was already circulating widely in India, the researchers said In an article published online Wednesday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, a country where the health care system isn’t really prepared with the detection technology or drugs to treat it. The Associated Press reports that after going to India or Pakistan for plastic surgery, 37 individuals in Britain with drug-resistant infections were diagnosed with the superbug gene. Medical researchers in Australia, Canada, the Americas, the Netherlands and Sweden have also detected the superbug gene . The superbug gene is found on DNA structures, called plasmids, that can be effortlessly copied and transferred between bacteria, giving the superbug “an alarming potential to spread and diversify,” the authors said.
Superbug takes a backseat to Large Pharma profits
The pharmaceutical industry isn’t motivated to fight superbugs. Because bacteria adapts so easily, new antibiotics don’t have the shelf life to be sufficiently lucrative . The Wall Street Journal reports that to ensure they get an adequate return on investment to shareholders for addressing a global health threat, some pharmaceutical businesses are looking for government subsidies. Strict research and development demands from official regulators are also blamed for cutting into future earnings. However, Pfizer and Merck in the Americas, Novartis in Switzerland and GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca in the U.K are engaged in antibiotic research .
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67A0YU20100811
Associated Press
google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gpFQ3Bz7hIFhSsHlYpROVwTVwwoAD9HHAI6G0
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100811-710190.html
