A new superbug infection could become a global threat, thanks to Brits seeking out cheap face lifts in India and bringing home more than mementos. A new superbug infection could spread worldwide after infecting plastic surgery patients in south Asia who brought it home to Britain. One of the most powerful antibiotics available won’t stem infections born from a bacteria-jumping gene within the new superbug. Experts have said that more should be done by governments to encourage more investment from Large Pharma for antibiotic research, instead of going after easy profits for popular conditions like erectile dysfunction.
Superbug gene makes deadly bacteria drug-resistant
After travelling from Britain to India via medical tourism, a new superbug infection is threatening to spread around the globe. Scientists say you will find almost no drugs to treat it. Researchers examining individuals in both south Asia and Britain have detected the new gene, called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1. The NDM-1 gene alters bacteria to make them highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, including the most powerful class called carbapenems. Experts say there are no new antibiotics within the pipeline to fight it. With international travel in search of cheap procedures for instance cosmetic surgery increasing, Timothy Walsh, who led the study, told Reuters he fears the new superbug could soon spread across the globe.
Superbug triggers drug-resistant mutations
Researchers published an article Wednesday in Lancet Infectious Diseases that said the superbug gene was already well-established in India, where hospitals aren’t equipped to detect it and the drugs aren’t accessible to fight it. The Associated Press reports the superbug gene has been identified in 37 people in Britain with drug-resistant bacterial infections after having plastic surgery in India or Pakistan. The superbug gene also been detected in Australia, Canada, the Americas, the Netherlands and Sweden . The authors of the Lancet article said the gene is detected on DNA structures called plasmids that are copied and passed on with ease between bacteria, leading them to declare the superbug has “an alarming potential to spread and diversify”.
Superbug takes a backseat to Big Pharma profits
Superbugs don’t peak the pharmaceutical industry’s interest. Because bacteria adapts so quickly, new antibiotics don’t have the shelf life to be sufficiently lucrative . The Wall Street Journal reports that some pharmaceutical companies are looking for government subsidies to ensure they get an adequate return on investment to shareholders for addressing a global health threat. Strict research and development demands from official regulators are also blamed for cutting into future earnings. Even so, some large drug makers are engaged in antibiotic research, including Pfizer and Merck in the Americas, Novartis in Switzerland and GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca within the U.K.
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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
