India rejects superbug links
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/13/india.superbug.reaction/index.h...
New Delhi, India (CNN) -- India has rejected findings of British scientists about a new form of drug-resistant "superbug" infecting patients who have traveled to the South Asian nation for treatment.
The Indian health ministry insisted in a written statement Thursday that such organisms were present universally.
"[T]his is a phenomenon which occurs in nature -- in the environment, may be intestines of humans and animals universally. There might be billions of such happenings at any moment," the ministry said.
Health authorities in the country, seen as a cost-effective destination for foreign medical tourists, claimed similar plasmids have been reported from the United States, Israel and Greece as well.
"While such organisms may be circulating more commonly in the world due to international travel but to link this with the safety of surgery hospitals in India and citing isolated examples to show that due to presence of such organism in Indian environment, India is not a safe place to visit is wrong," the ministry said.
It also objected to the naming of the superbug as New Delhi metallo-lactamase-1 and dismissed claims Indian hospitals were not safe for treatment.
The medical journal, The Lancet, said this week that tourists seeking treatment in Asia are bringing home a dangerous type of bacterial infection that's resistant to nearly all known antibiotics.
Doctors identified 29 patients in the United Kingdom with the new infections. Most had traveled to India, Pakistan or Bangladesh for medical procedures, including elective cosmetic surgery. Dozens of patients from Asia also got the infections, according to the researchers from Cardiff University.
The new strains appear to be widespread in south Asian medical centers and have also been spotted in Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States. In June, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) flagged three cases where patients were infected with bacteria carrying the NDM-1 gene. All had undergone medical care in India.
Perhaps they could stop reusing the hand gloves... eww
exiled, you were supposed to take the VRS from QL?? what happened to that???
Ha ha, anyone says anything against India even if it questions their batting line up and they are immediatley an anti-Indian and a racist.... oohhh touchy Indians.
@ exiled saint,we wash our a*#&s after taking a dump,unlike ???(i don't suppose you do?!)...so your lavatory paper theory stands completely null & void...leading to credibility issues with everything else you stated,fair enough?...here's my theory,you're an anti-Indian racist bigot...in light of your comments,attempts @ poorly masking them notwithstanding,i think that seems fairly accurate...don't you?...*wink*!!!
A Lebanese while polishing his pointy shoes from a villa in west bay he cannot possibly afford said: "Apparently India is a big centre for cosmetic surgery. Instead of a tummy tuck they inject some of the local cholera straight into your lower intestine and then you just sh!t yourself thin by the weekend. I'm very interested."
Ahemd from al ahli an expert say NDM-1 is from Pakistan or India or one of those hot places where people live piled on top each other and share the same piece of lavatory paper for a month.
Sam Bigend, some bloody woman from Najma, said: "I'm so relieved it's from Pakistan. My theory that they were all terrorists was starting to wear a bit thin, but now a scientist says they're going to kill me with their bugs. I'm bullet proof."
Why do you have to spoil everything... Now I'm totally confused..
I always thought horizontal jeans transfer was something you did after a great night out :O(
Somehow, the whole discussion about NDM-1 seems to be missing a point. That NDM1 is not a bacteria or a bug.
It is just an ENZYME that is being created by a gene in bacteria that are already known to exist. This enzyme makes it resistant to the strongest of antibiotics. That is when the bacteria (that exist universally) become superbugs.
Meaning, the bugs were already there, it did not spring up last nite in India or South Asia. The horizontal gene transfer ( the pathogen absorbing a particular gene from another organism without being its offspring) to the existing type of bugs were observed in countries in south asia.
I do agree that it is something that can create mass hysteria against the healthcare facilities in any country when exploited.
That said, the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains
could have more to do with the indiscriminate prescription of anibiotics rather than safety and hygiene standards.
Can someone please tell me,How can a horizontal gene transfer and the corresponding formation of an enzyme be attributed to standards of hygiene?
Today first victim of this superbug reported in Belgium.
fully agree with you mate...just like that superbug from a couple of months/a year or so back that originiated in the UK's public hospitals...now,i ask again,why wasn't the world "cautioned" about travelling to the UK or getting medical treatment done there?...same rules must apply to everyone,that's all i'm saying...
This bug has been found in many countries now US, Canada, NZ as well as the UK.
What they have found is the majority of these cases have links to south asia. Either people of indian origin who are now citizens of those countries and have visited India recently, or people who have visited India for medical treatment.
No one is blaming India or Pakistan but the evidence is that it originated in that region.
@ exiledsaint,you actually believe everything you read in the media mate???...sorry to put it this way but i had you placed as someone with a higher than average intelligence level & higher than room temperature IQ,guess i need to do a rethink eh? *wink*!!! No one seems to be answering THE most important point put forward by the Indian health authorities,which is that there are a whole bunch of "superbugs" doing the rounds these days,like the one that originated a year or so back in the UK,conveniently though,none of these same "experts" came out then & made statements to the press asking people not to get treatment in the UK,i wonder why???...a few weeks/months/a year from now,another superbug" will originate somewhere else on the planet...& life will go on...humankind is not going to eradicated or even severely affected,by this or the forthcoming bugs...however,an undeniable fact is this,the health industry in the west,specifically the UK has been hit & hit badly,with the rise of "medical tourism" in India through which thousands of people are now back on their feet with new hips,new knees,new livers,bypass heart valves & new teeth & guess what?...it works fine,they had the surgery done @ a fraction of the cost back home & that cost in many cases includes a post surgery holiday & without having to wait months for the procedure...so is this a "conspiracy"?...no one can truly answer that question except the people concerned...would the western(British) health system gain by such a "conspiracy" or rather simply twisting facts to make it seem like this is the end of the world?...i think the answer to that is far far simpler than pondering on "conspiracy theories"...wouldn't you agree? *wink*!!! have a good one!...
BritExpat is correct this is the biggest thing from India to hit Britain since the introduction of the vindaloo..:) I guess the Empire's striking back!
Yeah everything is a conspiracy! Pig flu was blamed on Mexico to hit the tortilla industry...
It's just a conspiracy to hit the MEDICAL TOURISM industry of INDIA which is booming at a faster pace because of HIGH FACILITY/TREATMENT at low price..
Lol...Brit... you are a master in Humor!
Or even the phal..... Days of torture afterwards
Aah... The dreaded Vindaloo.. Came out hotter than it went in.. :O(
Curry was the first biological weapon against the west and now this......
finally the Indian nation have power to tackle the New World Order ...yaayyy
A deadly germ weapon that if used by the Army can kill many..?
exile, we are proud our vital forces have developed super anti-bodies as well...
do you see it as an indian conspiracy to start a biological warfare with the west...:)'wink'
Such organisms can be present universally but they have to start somewhere....
Indians are always on this site boasting about India and how they are world leaders. Be proud you don't just have bacteria, you have super bacteria and you spread it around the world....
Should the Indian not be proud of this?