Facts About the NDM-1- The New Drug Resistant Super Bug
A recent health study by the Lancet Infectious Diseases has indicated that a new type of malicious super bug is originating from India. This super bug is named NDM-1 or New Delhi Metallo-Beta-Lactamase gene and it’s claimed by Lancet that the super bug is infecting people in Indian hospitals. The super bug has now reached Britain and can potentially spread to other parts of the globe very soon, if precautions are not taken immediately. The Lancet is one of the globe’s renowned medical journals which specialize in infectious diseases, neurology and oncology.
Shadow of the NDM-1 Looms Large
The New Delhi Metallo-Beta-Lactamase gene causes bacteria to be highly resistant against most types of antibiotics, including the ‘Carbapenems’, which is considered to be one of the most powerful antibiotics around. Lancet Infectious Diseases has also added that presently, there are no effective drugs in the medical horizon which can tackle the NDM-1.
3 Antibiotics Which Are Inactivated By NDM-1
1. Cephalosporin
2. Carbapenem
3. Penicillin
The NDM-1 has so far been identified in almost forty people in the UK who’ve returned from India and Pakistan after undergoing surgeries. Countries such as Canada, Australia, Netherlands and Sweden have also detected the resistant NDM-1. This super bug gene has the ability to resist most drugs and can also swap between different types of bacteria, thereby making them even more dangerous. The E. coli bacteria are being affected by the gene most often, leading to urinary tract infections in the patients.
5 Symptoms of a NDM-1 Infection
• Sudden commencement of high fever
• Hemoptysis
• Urinary tract infections
• Nosocomial pneumonia
• Intra-abdominal infections
Stance by the Indian Medical Fraternity
The Indian medical fraternity however has categorically denied such claims and has described the findings as a malicious propaganda. Indian medical sources have also stated that global MNC’s have a hand in this study, since the finding is unsubstantiated. A number of Indian medical associations such as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) believe that it is an attempt by the MNC’s to harm the medical tourism business of India, since the Indian medical tourism industry is whisking away several customers from the hospitals of the West to India.
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases, India, has opposed the findings of Lancet Infectious Diseases and has further stated that the NDM-1 bug is actually a global phenomenon which cannot be zeroed in to India alone as the point of origin. Moreover, the UK had issued a similar health alert in 2009 as well. Besides the UK, a few other countries like Greece, Israel and Scotland had identified the super bug earlier, but none of the countries claimed that India had a link to it.
Impact on the Burgeoning Indian Medical Tourism Industry
For the last couple of years, the medical tourism industry in India has skyrocketed. Customers opt for India as a preferred destination for surgeries such as cosmetic surgeries and cardiac surges, since they are apparently cost effective. With the gradual increase of medical tourists worldwide who travel to India and parts of South Asia in search of cheaper medical procedures, the threat posed by this super bug of spreading around the world is indeed very real.
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