Thanks to Haiti MPHISE for the link to the Deccan Chronicle, which has the least welcome headline of the week: Cholera superbug found. Excerpt:
In a major cause for concern, a new strain of cholera bacterium resistant to third generation antibiotics has been found to be circulating in India.
This cholera bacterial strain contains two super bug genes, including the notorious New Delhi Metallo beta-lactamase-1 (blaNDM-1). The other super bug gene is plasmid-mediated beta-lactamase-1 (blaDHA-1).
Thanks to these two super bug genes, the new cholera bacterial strain (O1 El Tor Ogawa) has developed resistance to a majority of known antibiotics.
The blaNDM-1, discovered a couple of years ago from hospitals in New Delhi, created ripples in the health sector worldwide. The gene was then found in E.coli strains. This is the first time that doctors have found the super bug gene, blaNDM-1, in the cholera bacterium, Vibrio cholerae.
A team of doctors led by Dr Jharna Mandal from Jawaharlal Institute of Post-graduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer), Puducherry, isolated the cholera germ strain from the stools of a two-year-old patient. It reported the findings in the journal of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA.
