Scientists warn that drug-resistant superbug could go world-wide

A new superbug virus could become a world-wide threat, thanks to Brits seeking out cheap face lifts in India and bringing home more than souvenirs. A new superbug infection could spread worldwide after infecting plastic surgery individuals in south Asia who brought it home to Britain. The new superbug carries a bacteria-jumping gene that makes infections impervious to one of 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.

Drug-resistant superbug gene makes bacteria deadly

After travelling from Britain to India via medical tourism, a new superbug infection is threatening to spread around the world. 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 available, are ineffective on bacteria that are altered by the NDM-1 gene. There are no new antibiotics in the research pipeline to combat the new gene, drug experts have said. Timothy Walsh, who led the study, told Reuters he fears the new superbug could soon spread across the globe with international travel for cheap cosmetic surgery procedures increasing.

Superbug triggers drug-resistant mutations

In an article published online Wednesday within the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, the researchers said the superbug gene was already circulating widely in India, where the health care system is much less likely to detect it or have adequate antibiotics to fight it. The Associated Press reports that 37 individuals in the U.K. who had plastic surgery in India or Pakistan that contracted antibiotic-resistant infections are diagnosed with the superbug gene. The superbug gene also been detected in Australia, Canada, the United States of America, the Netherlands and Sweden . The superbug has "an alarming potential to spread and diversify," because the gene is found on DNA structures called plasmids that are copied and effortlessly between bacteria , the authors of the Lancet article said.

Big Pharma chasing money, not superbugs

The pharmaceutical industry lacks interest in superbugs. Bacteria's ability to develop resistance easily narrows the commercial opportunity for new antibiotics . The Wall Street Journal reports that to ensure they get an adequate return on investment to shareholders for addressing a world-wide health threat, some pharmaceutical corporations are looking for government subsidies. Pharmaceutical businesses also blame strict research and development demands from official regulators that cut into potential profits. Even so, some large drug makers are engaged in antibiotic research, including Pfizer and Merck within the United States, Novartis in Switzerland and GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca in the U.K.

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Reuters

reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67A0YU20100811

Associated Press

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Wall Street Journal

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