British scientists on Wednesday issued an urgent warning against the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, which is widespread in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This superbug is so closely linked to the Indian subcontinent that it has been named New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1).
The British researchers warned that the enzyme NDM-1 allows bacteria to become highly resistant to almost all antibiotics. NDM-1 is an enzyme that can live inside different bacteria and any bacteria that carries it is resistant to carbapenems, amongst the most powerful classes of antibiotics.
The scientists blamed medical tourism in the Indian subcontinent for the spread of the enzyme in the UK. NDM-1 is widespread in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The superbug was also found in about 50 patients in the UK, of whom about 37 had travelled to India or Pakistan for medical procedures, including cosmetic surgery, according to the study in the journal Lancet.
The study warned against the spread of drug-resistant superbugs that could lead to the end of antibiotics. “The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great and coordinated international surveillance is needed,” according to Timothy Walsh of Cardiff Univer-sity, who led the study.
The superbug is mostly found in E. Coli, a common cause of urinary tract infections and pneumonia, which is highly resistant to antibiotics. The enzyme can easily be copied and transferred between different bacteria. The study warned that this ease of transfer could lead to its spread and help it “diversify among bacterial populations”.
Indian medical tourism will come under the scanner of the health authorities worldwide after the warning by the British scientists. “India also provides cosmetic surgery for other Europeans and Americans, and it is likely NDM-1 will spread worldwide,” the study warned.
The main worry for scientists is the resistance of the superbug to antibiotics. “Resistance to one of the major groups of antibiotics, the carbapenems, is widespread in India. This is important because carbapenems were often the last ‘good’ antibiotics active against bacteria that already were resistant to more standard drugs,” the co-author of the study, Dr David Livermore, said.
“We have now also identified bacteria with this type of resistance — NDM — in around 50 patients in the UK. Most, not all, had previously travelled to the Indian subcontinent, and many had received hospital treatment there. International travel gives a great potential for spread of resistant bacteria between countries. Few antibiotics remain active against these bacteria,” said Dr Livermore, director of antibiotic resistance monitoring at the UK’s Health Protection Agency.
Britain’s health ministry said it had been alerted to the danger of the superbug in January. “We are working with the Health Protection Agency on this issue. The HPA alerted the NHS in January and July last year to be vigilant about these bacteria and take appropriate action where necessary,” the UK’s department for health said.