A dangerous superbug sweeping through Britain's hospitals could make even routine operations too dangerous to carry out.
A
study by Public Health England (PHE) has revealed that only one drug is
still effective against the New Delhi metallo (NDM) enzyme - imported
into the UK by people who have undergone medical treatment in India.
The
report goes on to warn that even this last useful drug - coliston,
which has not been widely used since the 1980s - will eventually become
ineffective, making NDM extremely hard for doctors to treat and leaving
patients at severe risk if they catch it.
The number of cases of the superbug has increased fivefold since it was first identified in Britain in 2008
The research also found that three other medicines had very limited success in treating NDM.
The bug has been circulating in India
since 2006 and was brought to the UK in 2008 by a patient who had
travelled to the region. There were six reported cases in this first
year but the figure has shot up fivefold to 148 in 2013.
A number
of other suffers had recently travelled to the Indian sub-continent when
they contracted the disease and the Balkans is known as another global
hotspot.
Professor
Anthony Kessel, Director of Public Health Strategy at PHE, said: 'The
results of this study are a stark reminder of the issue that we are
facing with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Having only
one antibiotic available for treating patients with this resistance
mechanism and limited effectiveness with a further three represents a great
challenge for the future of healthcare as we know it.
'Some
affected UK patients had travel-related risk factors, but cases in the
community setting show the potential for these resistant bacteria to
spread even further. We are actively working with our stakeholders to
address the issue of resistance head on as this is one of the most
pressing healthcare issues of our time.'
NDM has developed resistance to almost all antibiotics making it extremely difficult to treat
Many sufferers were found to have recently travelled abroad and
brought the bug back with them but it has also begun to spread in this
country
The most common bacteria with NDM enzymes was Klebsiella, followed by E. coli.
Most
of us carry these bacteria harmlessly in our guts but they can cause
infections if they get into the bloodstream or urinary tract. There are a
number of different resistance mechanisms and these make treatment much
harder.
A
study by Public Health England (PHE) has revealed that only one drug is
still effective against the New Delhi metallo (NDM) enzyme - imported
into the UK by people who have undergone medical treatment in India.
The
report goes on to warn that even this last useful drug - coliston,
which has not been widely used since the 1980s - will eventually become
ineffective, making NDM extremely hard for doctors to treat and leaving
patients at severe risk if they catch it.
The research also found that three other medicines had very limited success in treating NDM.
The bug has been circulating in India
since 2006 and was brought to the UK in 2008 by a patient who had
travelled to the region. There were six reported cases in this first
year but the figure has shot up fivefold to 148 in 2013.
A number
of other suffers had recently travelled to the Indian sub-continent when
they contracted the disease and the Balkans is known as another global
hotspot.
Professor
Anthony Kessel, Director of Public Health Strategy at PHE, said: 'The
results of this study are a stark reminder of the issue that we are
facing with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Having only
one antibiotic available for treating patients with this resistance
mechanism and limited effectiveness with a further three represents a great
challenge for the future of healthcare as we know it.
'Some
affected UK patients had travel-related risk factors, but cases in the
community setting show the potential for these resistant bacteria to
spread even further. We are actively working with our stakeholders to
address the issue of resistance head on as this is one of the most
pressing healthcare issues of our time.'
brought the bug back with them but it has also begun to spread in this
country
The most common bacteria with NDM enzymes was Klebsiella, followed by E. coli.
Most
of us carry these bacteria harmlessly in our guts but they can cause
infections if they get into the bloodstream or urinary tract. There are a
number of different resistance mechanisms and these make treatment much
harder.
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