New Delhi – A British article claiming a drug-resistant superbug came from India was “biased” and could be aimed against the country’s booming medical tourism industry, Indian medical professionals and scientists said Friday.
The study in the British medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases said a new antibiotic-resistant enzyme had emerged in India, Pakistan and Britain.
The enzyme, named New Delhi metallo-beta lactamase (NDM-1), can lead to fatal multiple organ failure.
The report, based on laboratory studies in the three countries, concluded that the superbug may have originated in India and “will likely spread worldwide.”
It said the enzyme could impregnate widespread bacteria such as escherichia coli and was resistant to common antibiotics.
Britain’s Health Protection Agency said it had identifiedbacteria with the offending enzyme in at least 50 patients. Read more…