India has reacted strongly to a study linking a multiple drug-resistant superbug detected in Britain to India and said the bacteria are not a public health threat.
It said Indian hospitals were safe as a number of such bacteria survived in nature and were reported from several other countries.
The conclusions of the study are “loaded with inference'' that the antibiotic-resistant organism possibly originated in India, an official statement by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said here on Thursday.
“While such organisms may be circulating more commonly in the world due to international travel, to link it with the safety of surgery hospitals in India and citing isolated examples to show that India is not a safe place to visit due to the presence of such organism in Indian environment are wrong,” V.M. Katoch, Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research, said here.
Several authors had declared a conflict of interest in the publication of the study. The study was funded by the European Union and two pharmaceutical companies — Wellcome Trust and Wyeth — that produce antibiotics for treatment of such cases, the statement said.
The government also strongly objected to the naming of this enzyme as New Delhi metallo beta lactamase -1 (NDM-1) and refuted the conclusion that hospitals in India were not safe for treatment.
Admitting that such news reports were likely to dent the prospects of medical tourism in the country, Dr. Katoch said correct reporting by the media should inform the people and set the matter right. “Indian hospitals are world class and follow the best practices,” Dr. Katoch said.
Though not disputing the validity of the study, he said the conclusions were “unfair” and “scary.” The conclusions and interpretations of the study were wrong, scientifically invalid and aimed at creating a scare.
Keywords: Superbug, NDM-1, New Delhi metallo beta lactamase
The scientists have to go to all countries, take stool samples and anal swabs to see whether this NDM-1 Coprophilic Superbug is present elsewhere. That is epidemiology at the best. Without this kind of investigation, this paper is incomplete.
India has a rich diverse history and we do not want our capital city to be linked with the name of a bacteria that has the potential to spread everywhere and kill thousands of people.
What disturbs us the most is that this bacteria is named as New Delhi Metallo Beta Lactamase -1 (NDM-1) after the capital city of our country creating a misconception that the point of origin is India.
Please sign the online petition to "International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes" requesting to change the name of the superbug and remove our country's capital name "New Delhi" from it.
This a worrisome allegation that Mr. Walsh, the Cardiff University based professor had made on Indian Health sector but its too realistic, statistically proven and scientifically believable fact. It is an alarming research by Mr. Welsh but the conclusion Dr. Walsh et al had arrived on this particular issue is ambiguous and in a way it will mislead the poorly educated Indian public. Dr. Katoch's arguments are acceptable but the ministry's silence for an article published by Journal Association of Physician (JAPI) on NDM-1 in its March issue, which earlier claimed that the over prescription of antibiotics by physicians through out India might be reason behind the evolution of NDM-1. As a budding biotechonologist, I myself recognize that India lacks epidemiological data to disapprove the conclusion drawn by Mr. Walsh. Health ministry must conduct more investigation in to this and steps to curb such Superbug infection otherwise a country like India, where almost 30% its population are deprived off proper sanitation facilities and safe drinking water, would face severe fatalities.
Even if this Indian bug theory is true it is nothing new in this world of international travel. It has been happening for several centuries. Ones that I can recall are the syphilis that was said to have come to the Americas with Christopher Columbus and the various respiratory and other infections that came with the English Colonialists that killed thousands of Australian Aboriginal People
We all know that Indian hospitals in general are severely unhygienic so why deny this and create a conspiracy theory. I think it is time for Indian bureaucrats to hang their heads in shame. This is a serious matter but then a few thousand deaths don't make a difference. It is just cannon fodder for the pride of the Indian Government.
History has conclusively shown that EVERY illness; smallpox,typhoid, TB, influenza etc emanated from Europe especially UK, read ancient history. Over 4.5 million original Americans died from smallpox, whole tribes died from influenza. It has become fashionable to blame India, because the weakest Indian Government of all time, has no courage to refute claims, or to stop foreigners, filming slums and dustbins in India, and showing it around the world.
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