A new superbug disease could become a world-wide threat, thanks to Brits seeking out cheap face lifts in India and bringing home more than mementos. Plastic surgery individuals have contracted a new class of superbug infection in south Asia and carried it to Britain, where it could spread worldwide. The new superbug carries a bacteria-jumping gene that makes infections impervious to one of the most powerful antibiotics accessible. Experts say governments should come up with programs to coax more antibiotic research from Large Pharma, which is preoccupied with profitable maladies for instance erectile dysfunction.
Superbug gene makes deadly bacteria drug-resistant
A new superbug infection set off alarms that it could spread worldwide after reaching Britain from India via medical tourism. Scientists say there are almost no drugs to treat it. Reuters reports that a newly found gene– New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1-has been found by researchers in clients in both south Asia and the U.K. Bacteria are altered by the NDM-1 gene to become highly resistant to most antibiotics, including carbapenems-the most powerful class accessible. Drug experts say the research pipeline has no new antibiotics in progress to suppress it. Reuters said that Timothy Walsh, who led the study, fears that with international travel for cheap cosmetic surgery procedures increasing, the new superbug could soon spread to hospitals worldwide.
Superbug seeks to spread and diversify
The superbug gene was already circulating widely in India, the researchers said In an article published online Wednesday within the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, a country where the health care system 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. The superbug gene has also been detected by medical researchers in Australia, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden . 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 lacks interest in 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 companies are looking for government subsidies. Pharmaceutical businesses also blame strict research and development demands from official regulators that cut into potential profits. However, Pfizer and Merck within the Americas, Novartis in Switzerland and GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca in the U.K are engaged in antibiotic research .
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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
