Superbug Gene Turns Deadly Bacteria Into Drug-resistant Mutants
A new superbug infection could become a global threat, thanks to Brits seeking out cheap face lifts in India and bringing home more than mementos. A new class of superbug has infected plastic surgery clients in south Asia who have carried it to the U.K., from where it could spread around the globe. The most powerful antibiotics accessible won’t stem infections born from a bacteria-jumping gene in the new superbug. Experts say governments should come up with programs to coax more antibiotic research from Large Pharma, which is preoccupied with profitable maladies such as erectile dysfunction.
Superbug gene helps bacteria defeat antibiotics
A new superbug infection set off alarms that it could spread worldwide after reaching Britain from India via medical tourism. There are few drugs strong enough to treat it, researchers said. Researchers examining patients in both south Asia and Britain have detected the new gene, called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1. Most antibiotics, including carbapenems-the most powerful class available, are ineffective on bacteria that are altered by the NDM-1 gene. Drug experts say the research pipeline has no new antibiotics in progress to suppress it. 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 seeks to spread and diversify
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 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 U.S., the Netherlands and Sweden . The superbug gene is found on DNA structures, called plasmids, that can be very easily copied and transferred between bacteria, giving the superbug “an alarming potential to spread and diversify,” the authors said.
Money motivates Large Pharma
The pharmaceutical industry isn’t motivated to fight superbugs. New antibiotics aren’t marketable long enough for making enough profits because bacteria evolve so quickly . The Wall Street Journal reports that some pharmaceutical businesses are looking for government subsidies to ensure they get an adequate return on investment to shareholders for addressing a world-wide health threat. Strict research and development demands from official regulators are also blamed for cutting into future earnings. Nevertheless, some big drug corporations are jumping into the antibiotic research pool, including Pfizer and Merck in the U.S., Novartis in Switzerland and GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca within the U.K.
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


