A little loop of genes that give bacteria the power to resist virtually all known antibiotics is spreading quickly and likely to cause doctors headaches for years to come, an expert predicted Wednesday.
They come on the equivalent of a genetic memory stick -- a string of genes called a transmissible genetic element. Bacteria, unlike higher forms of life, can swap these gene strings with other species and often do so with wild abandon.
This one is called New Delhi metallobeta-lactamase 1 or NDM-1 for short and Dr. Robert Moellering of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston predicts it will cause more trouble in the coming years.
"What makes this enzyme so frightening is not only its intrinsic ability to destroy most known beta-lactam antibiotics but also the company it keeps,' Moellering wrote in a commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine.
First described in 2008, NDM-1 has been found in a wide variety of bacterial types, including the Enterobacteriaceae family, klebsiella and Escherichia coli, all of which are common and cause a range of infections.
British researchers reported in August infections involving NDM-1 had been found in patients in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Britain. [ID:nLDE67A0O1]
"In addition, isolates of Enterobacteriaceae-containing NDM-1 have now been characterized in the United States, Israel, Turkey, China, India, Australia, France, Japan, Kenya, Singapore, Taiwan, and the Nordic countries," Moellering wrote.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are nothing new -- virtually all strains of the common Staphylococcus bacteria are now resistant to penicillin. Almost as soon as penicillin was introduced in the 1940s, bacteria began to develop resistance to its effects, prompting researchers to develop many new generations of antibiotics.
But their overuse and misuse have helped fuel the rise of drug-resistant "superbugs." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says most infections that people get while in the hospital resist at least one antibiotic.
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6 comments:
There they go again, trying to convince us of a disease which will probably never become reality just like H1N1.
The regular flu kills more people a year than H1N1 did last year but they worked really hard to get that vaccine into all of us.
I didn't get the H1N1 but I usually get the regular flu shot.
This year, I didn't get the regular flu shot because it had the H1N1 vaccine in it. No thanks!
If people would go back to eating right, they would have a whole lot less worries about illness from the start. But because a lot of people live on fast food and the like, they're not able to build up natural antibodies!
think about it. that bug HAS TO BE BRED in order for someone to notice. which means it should be wide-spread before enough research has been learned. this 'superbug' was created. dont let them fool you!
9;42, superbugs are created by you dummies who stock up on any soap or cleaner that contain antibiotics even though they are proven to only work as well as regular soaps. The companies know how to dupe the American consumer and we fall for it every time.
sry 953, that isnt me for that very reason
Bio-Weapon
Actually, it's from the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, particularly in India, according to the article.
So all you who insist on leaving the doctor's office with a prescription, regardless whether your affliction is bacterial or viral (or let that same Dr. give you one 'just in case') are making the problem worse.
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