Gene 'may kill off antibiotics'

[dipsydoodle]

International travel and medical tourism helped the spread of drug-resistant bacteria that could lead to the end of antibiotics, scientists have warned. Skip related content

A new gene, NDM-1, emerged which allows bacteria to be highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, the scientists said.

NDM-1 spread in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. But it was also found in 37 patients from the UK, who travelled to India or Pakistan for medical procedures including cosmetic surgery, according to an article published in The Lancet.

"The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great, and co-ordinated international surveillance is needed," Timothy Walsh of Cardiff University and his international colleagues wrote.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100810/thl-gene-may-kill-off-antibiotics-d831572.html

[trotsky]

1. A very important issue, but WTF is it with science reporting?

Antibiotics aren't alive. They can't be "killed off."

[dipsydoodle]

2. Expressed in a different way by the BBC

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

They say bacteria that make an enzyme called NDM-1 have travelled back with NHS patients who went 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.

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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10925411