Superbug gene turns lethal bacteria into drug-resistant mutants

A new superbug virus could become a world-wide 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 patients in south Asia who have carried it to the U.K., from where it could spread around the globe. A gene interchangeable among bacteria in the new superbug makes infections resistant to one of the most powerful antibiotic drugs ever made. While Big Pharma chases lucrative conditions like erectile dysfunction, experts say governments have to do something to encourage more investment in antibiotic research.

Drug-resistant superbug gene makes bacteria deadly

After travelling from Britain to India via medical tourism, a new superbug infection is threatening to spread all over the world. Scientists say there are almost no drugs to treat it. Researchers examining patients in both south Asia and Britain have detected the new gene, called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1. The NDM-1 gene alters bacteria to make them highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, including one of the most powerful class called carbapenems. 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 lives to migrate and mutate

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 also been detected in Australia, Canada, the Americas, the Netherlands and Sweden . The authors of the Lancet article said the gene is detected on DNA structures called plasmids that are copied and passed on with ease between bacteria, leading them to declare that the superbug has “an alarming potential to spread and diversify”.

Superbug takes a backseat to Large Pharma profits

The pharmaceutical industry lacks interest in superbugs. New antibiotics aren’t marketable long enough for making enough profits because bacteria evolve so quickly . The Wall Street Journal reports that in order to earn enough for shareholders, Big Pharma wants governments to subsidize research with large tax breaks. Strict research and development demands from official regulators are also blamed for cutting into future earnings. Nevertheless, Pfizer and Merck in the United States of America, Novartis in Switzerland and GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca in the U.K are engaged in antibiotic research .

Additional reading

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