NDM-1 Superbug

Could a newly-identified gene mutation be responsible for a new class of drug-resistant superbugs? British researchers say it's possible. According to ABC News, researchers say a group of plastic surgery patients who traveled from India or Pakistan back to Great Britain returned carrying bacteria which has an antibiotic-resistant "superbug gene" known as NDM-1http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFlu/gene-turns-bacteria-superbug/story?id=11378216. NDM-1 stands for New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase. AFP quotes researchers as saying that a "new class of superbugs...could spread worldwide." The New York Times quotes experts calling the gene mutation "worrying" and "ominous."http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/world/asia/12bug.html?_r=2

According to AFP, researchers first discovered the NDM-1 gene in 2009 in a Swedish patient who was hospitalized in Indiahttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100811/wl_uk_afp/healthdiseasebacteriaantibioticstravelindiapakistan. Scientists are said to be especially concerned because NDM-1 bacteria are resistant to even the strongest, broad-spectrum antibiotics reserved to treat "multi-drug resistant bugs." In a article from the journal The Lancet, researchers in Britain noted that NDM-1 "can easily be transferred into common bacteria such as E. Coli." Once the NDM-1 transfer onto the bacteria, they can "easily spread and diversify." The Lancet piece notes that researchers have found patients in several countries, including the U.S., Netherlands, Australia and Canada, who were found to have "bacteria susceptible to the NDM-1 superbug gene." Scientists have said that NDM-1 "was impervious to all antibiotics except two."

In The Lancet, scientists conclude that "The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great, and co-ordinated international surveillance is needed." However, regarding the severity of the bug, as Dr. Martin J. Blaser of New York University says in his interview with the New York Times, "it's too early to judge."http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/world/asia/12bug.html?_r=2

NDM-1 is a superbug that is resistant to antibiotics. More specifically, it is an enzyme found inside bacteria. The scientific name for NDM-1 is New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase. Because it is found in bacteria like E. coli, it is notoriously hard to treat with drugs.

According to reports, there are currently no known antibiotics that can effectively combat NDM-1. The NDM-1 gene is said to be able to "easily jump from one bacteria strain to another." Ultimately, scientists have said there is some risk that seriously dangerous infections could develop - infections which might be "untreatable" with any antibiotic, either current or future.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/197616.php

How can people protect themselves from getting NDM-1? Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Peter Collingnon of the Australian National University told AOL News that people should "Have fewer surgical procedures, if you can."http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/what-is-the-ndm-1-superbug-drug-resistant-health-threat-explain/19589247