A new gene, NDM-1, emerged which allows bacteria to be highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, the scientists said.
NDM-1 spread in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. But it was also found in 37 patients from the UK, who travelled to India or Pakistan for medical procedures including cosmetic surgery, according to an article published in The Lancet.
"The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great, and co-ordinated international surveillance is needed," Timothy Walsh of Cardiff University and his international colleagues wrote.
The gene was mostly found in E Coli, a common cause of urinary tract infections and pneumonia, which is highly resistant to antibiotics. The authors said it could be easily copied and transferred between different bacteria, suggesting "an alarming potential to spread and diversify among bacterial populations".
The paper said several of the UK patients had travelled to India or Pakistan for surgical procedures within the past year. The authors wrote: "India also provides cosmetic surgery for other Europeans and Americans, and it is likely NDM-1 will spread worldwide."
Study co-author Dr David Livermore, director of antibiotic resistance monitoring at the Health Protection Agency, said: "The findings of this paper show that 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. 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."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "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."
(report from the London Evening Standard)
Another Insight
LONDON – People traveling to India for medical procedures have brought back to Britain a new gene that allows any bacteria to become a superbug, and scientists are warning this type of drug resistance could soon appear worldwide.
Though already widespread in India, the new superbug gene is being increasingly spotted in Britain and elsewhere. Experts warn the booming medical tourism industries in India and Pakistan could fuel a surge in antibiotic resistance, as patients import dangerous bugs to their home countries.
The superbug gene, which can be swapped between different bacteria to make them resistant to most drugs, has so far been identified in 37 people who returned to the U.K. after undergoing surgery in India or Pakistan.
The resistant gene has also been detected in Australia, Canada, the U.S., the Netherlands and Sweden. The researchers say since many Americans and Europeans travel to India and Pakistan for elective procedures like cosmetic surgery, it was likely the superbug gene would spread worldwide.
In an article published online Wednesday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, doctors reported finding a new gene, called NDM-1. The gene alters bacteria, making them resistant to nearly all known antibiotics. It has been seen largely in E. coli bacteria, the most common cause of urinary tract infections, and on DNA structures that can be easily copied and passed onto other types of bacteria.
The researchers said the superbug gene appeared to be already circulating widely in India, where the health system is much less likely to identify its presence or have adequate antibiotics to treat patients.
"The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great, and coordinated international surveillance is needed," the authors wrote.
Still, the numbers of people who have been identified with the superbug gene remains very small.
"We are potentially at the beginning of another wave of antibiotic resistance, though we still have the power to stop it," said Christopher Thomas, a professor of molecular genetics at the University of Birmingham who was not linked to the study. Thomas said better surveillance and infection control procedures might halt the gene's spread.
Thomas said while people checking into British hospitals were unlikely to encounter the superbug gene, they should remain vigilant about standard hygiene measures like properly washing their hands.
"The spread of these multi-resistant bacteria merits very close monitoring," wrote Johann Pitout of the division of microbiology at the University of Calgary, Canada, in an accompanying Lancet commentary.
Pitout called for international surveillance of the bacteria, particularly in countries that actively promote medical tourism.
"The consequences will be serious if family doctors have to treat infections caused by these multi-resistant bacteria on a daily basis," he wrote.
(from Yahoo news / Associated Press)
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