New 'superbug' found in UK hospitals

News from the BBC today:

A new superbug that is resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics has entered UK hospitals, experts warn.

They say bacteria which make an enzyme called NDM-1 travelled back with NHS patients who had gone abroad to countries like India and Pakistan for treatments such as cosmetic surgery.

Although there have only been about 50 cases identified in the UK so far, scientists fear it will go global.

Tight surveillance and new drugs are needed says Lancet Infectious Diseases.

NDM-1 can live inside different bacteria, like E.coli, and it makes them resistant to one of the most powerful groups of antibiotics - carbapenems

www.bbc.co.uk...

It would be interesting if anyone can find a genetic profile for this new 'superbug', to see if there is evidence of articficial genetic engineering.



[edit on 10-8-2010 by chemistry]

We just pasted the same story at exactly the same time, which is bloody brilliant! I'm going to go post in the synchronicity thread, if you haven't already done so. : )

My thread - may the mods decide.

The Synchronicity Thread.

(edited for poor spelling. I must learn to use the preview button.)

[edit on 10-8-2010 by eightfold]

Someone has already posted this thread in the Breaking News section.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I'm sorry eightfold but Idon't thing your allowed to double post on this website. Might be wrong; but that's my 2 cense before anyone else spends time replying (here).

Apart from that not good news, the manmade bird pandemic didn't work out so well, but nevermind as it looks like they'll have what they want from the floor of a hospital!

[edit on 090705 by Liberal1984]

reply to post by Liberal1984


Ahhh no you misunderstand - I didn't double post. In the 'breaking news' forum you don't fill in a standard 'new thread' page - it automatically makes two posts based on different boxes in the form. Everything you put in the comments box gets made into a separate 'second' post.

My post here was just to point out my thread on the same topic.

I guess great minds think alike

Sheesh. ANOTHER "global pandemic" brought to you by a medical community that can't identify nor trace the source of any given "super bug," but they're certain that it's going global.

Yeah, right. HIV/AIDS and H1N1 and Ebola and all the other global menaces utterly failed to fulfill the doomsday prophecies.

Interesting, don't you think, that this new "super bug" is making its debut in the most heavily-funded socialized healthcare system in the world, the British NHS?

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by Doc Velocity
Sheesh. ANOTHER "global pandemic" brought to you by a medical community that can't identify nor trace the source of any given "super bug," but they're certain that it's going global.

Yeah, right. HIV/AIDS and H1N1 and Ebola and all the other global menaces utterly failed to fulfill the doomsday prophecies.

Interesting, don't you think, that this new "super bug" is making its debut in the most heavily-funded socialized healthcare system in the world, the British NHS?

— Doc Velocity

Please don't confuse medical consensus with pop culture talking points. It has never been suggested by any reliable medical body that HIV/AIDS or ebola were "global menaces", unless you were in the risk groups (IV drug user for HIV or eating bushmeat for ebola, for example).

The reason this is called a "super bug" isn't because they think it is going to be a pandemic or because it is unnaturally strong. Superbug is the term given to any bacterial strain that has developed resistance to a commonly used antibiotic. It makes it harder, but not impossible, to treat.

As for is showing up in England, their healthcare system has absolutely nothing to do with it. It's just freak chance based on antibiotic use. Most superbugs have shown up in the United States first because people here use antibiotics like they're TicTacs. It's less likely to occur in England due to lower antibiotic use, but isn't an impossibility. It's all based on mutation rate and challenge rate.