The world could be battling a new superbug infection, on behalf of Brits travelling to India for nip-and-tuck discounts who have brought home a fatal stowaway. A new class of superbug has infected plastic surgery clients in south Asia who have carried it to the U.K., from where it could spread around the globe. The new superbug carries a bacteria-jumping gene that makes infections impervious to the most powerful antibiotics accessible. 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 turns bacteria into virulent killers
A new superbug infection threatens to go global after being carried to Britain from India by medical tourists. There are 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 accessible, are ineffective on bacteria that are altered by the NDM-1 gene. Drug experts say the research pipeline has no new antibiotics in progress to suppress it. With international travel in search of cheap procedures such as cosmetic surgery increasing, Timothy Walsh, who led the study, told Reuters he fears the new superbug could soon spread across the globe.
Superbug seeks to spread and diversify
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 prepared with the detection technology or drugs to treat it. The Associated Press reports that 37 individuals within the U.K. who had plastic surgery in India or Pakistan that contracted antibiotic-resistant infections are diagnosed with the superbug gene. Medical researchers in Australia, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden have also detected the superbug gene . 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
The pharmaceutical industry isn’t really motivated to fight superbugs. Bacteria’s ability to develop resistance easily narrows the commercial opportunity for new antibiotics . 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. They say future earnings are also threatened by strict demands on research and development from regulators. Nevertheless, Pfizer and Merck within the United States of America, Novartis in Switzerland and GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca in the U.K are engaged in antibiotic research .
Further reading
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
