New Superbug spreading across world - Polidicks

(sigh) just right after Swine flu was officially over, something new pops up... [url]http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20100811/NEWS-US-INFECTIONS-SUPERBUG/[/url] [quote] Scientists find new superbug spreading from India By Kate Kelland and Ben Hirschler, Reuters A new superbug could spread around the world after reaching Britain from India -- in part because of medical tourism -- and scientists say there are almost no drugs to treat it. Researchers said on Wednesday they had found a new gene called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1, in patients in South Asia and in Britain. NDM-1 makes bacteria highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, including the most powerful class called carbapenems, and experts say there are no new drugs on the horizon to tackle it. With international travel in search of cheaper healthcare increasing, particularly for procedures such as cosmetic surgery, Timothy Walsh, who led the study, said he feared the new superbug could soon spread across the globe. "At a global level, this is a real concern," Walsh, from Britain's Cardiff University, said in telephone interview. "Because of medical tourism and international travel in general, resistance to these types of bacteria has the potential to spread around the world very, very quickly. And there is nothing in the (drug development) pipeline to tackle it." Almost as soon as the first antibiotic penicillin was introduced in the 1940s, bacteria began to develop resistance to its effects, prompting researchers to develop many new generations of antibiotics. FoxNews: Superbug Carriers But their overuse and misuse have helped fuel the rise of drug-resistant "superbug" infections like methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA). In a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal on Wednesday, Walsh's team found that NDM-1 is becoming more common in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan and is also being imported back to Britain in patients returning after treatment. "India also provides cosmetic surgery for other Europeans and Americans, and it is likely NDM-1 will spread worldwide," the scientists wrote in the study. "CINDERELLA" BUSINESS For many years, antibiotic research has been a "Cinderella" sector of the pharmaceuticals industry, reflecting a mismatch between the scientific difficulty of finding treatments and the modest sales such products are likely to generate, since new drugs are typically saved only for the sickest patients. But the increasing threat from superbugs is encouraging a rethink at the few large drugmakers still actively hunting for new antibiotics, including Pfizer, Merck, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. Walsh and his international team collected bacteria samples from hospital patients in two places in India, Chennai and Haryana, and from patients referred to Britain's national reference laboratory between 2007 and 2009. They found 44 NDM-1-positive bacteria in Chennai, 26 in Haryana, 37 in Britain, and 73 in other sites in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Several of the British NDM-1 positive patients had recently traveled to India or Pakistan for hospital treatment, including cosmetic surgery, they said. Most worryingly, NDM-1-producing bacteria are resistant to many antibiotics including carbapenems, the scientists said, a class of the drugs often reserved for emergency use and to treat infections caused by other multi-resistant bugs like MRSA and C-Difficile. Anders Ekblom, global head of medicines development at AstraZeneca, whose Merrem antibiotic is the leading carbapenem, said he saw "great value" in investing in new antibiotics. "We've long recognized the growing need for new antibiotics, he said. "Bacteria are continually developing resistance to our arsenal of antibiotics and NDM1 is just the latest example." Experts commenting on Walsh's findings said it was important to be alert to the new bug and start screening for it early. "If this emerging public health threat is ignored, sooner or later the medical community could be confronted with carbapenem-resistant (bacteria) that cause common infections, resulting in treatment failures with substantial increases in health-care costs," Johann Pitout from the University of Calgary in Canada wrote in a commentary in same journal. (Editing by Myra MacDonald)[/quote]

Frankly I don't give a fuck... so tired of scaremongering in the media.

Another epidemic to add to my list of "I'm so badass I will survive it" shit

I'll say this again, if you want to not get it... Wash your damn hands. Problem solved.

[QUOTE=-Norg-;23992536]Frankly I don't give a fuck... so tired of scaremongering in the media.[/QUOTE] something that isn't treatable and can kill you isn't scaremongering, it is actually very terrifying.

Third thread on this, can you not see the other threads or something?

[QUOTE=-Norg-;23992536]Frankly I don't give a fuck... so tired of scaremongering in the media.[/QUOTE] Errm, this doesn't seem like something media is making look horrible, did you even read about it? Drug resistant super bug, this could be very dangerous!

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;23992992]Errm, this doesn't seem like something media is making look horrible, did you even read about it? Drug resistant super bug, this could be very dangerous![/QUOTE] Is it bleach-resistant? No? Is it disinfectant-resistant? No? Then wash your damn hands and clean areas where infected people have been. Herp. And the common cold is immune to drugs, big deal. People get over it. That's what the immune system (and therefore vaccinations) is for.

isnt that basic anyways?

[QUOTE=robowurmz;23993084]Is it bleach-resistant? No? Is it disinfectant-resistant? No? Then wash your damn hands and clean areas where infected people have been. Herp. And the common cold is immune to drugs, big deal. People get over it. That's what the immune system (and therefore vaccinations) is for.[/QUOTE] If you use bleach to combat infections you're going to have a bigger problem than the infection. Also, the cold can be extremely resistant to drugs, but the same logic doesn't necesarily have to apply to this bacterium, it may be strong.

but isnt disinfectant for self and bleach for cleaning universal? not being a slob should be pretty simple with some fuckin dollar store disinfecting wipes...

Has there been any report on symptoms exhibited by those affected by NDM-1? It's important to know in case the bug actually does reach here.

off to Madagascar.

[QUOTE=Kendra;23993357]If you use bleach to combat infections you're going to have a bigger problem than the infection. Also, the cold can be extremely resistant to drugs, but the same logic doesn't necesarily have to apply to this bacterium, it may be strong.[/QUOTE] If hospitals use strict hygiene policies, then the chance of infection spreading is low. Poor hygiene, combined with the mismanagement of antibiotics, is what leads to the spread of infections such as MRSA or other superbugs.