超耐性菌、徐々に勢力を広げる
既存の抗生物質に耐性を持つ「スーパーバグ」NDM-1が、ヨーロッパでも徐々に広がりつつあるそうです。インドでは、首都･ニューデリーの飲み水からもNDM-1が検出され、何千人という単位の現地人がNDM-1を保持している可能性すらあります。NDM-1の抗生物質耐性遺伝子は、コレラ菌･赤痢菌にまで伝播しており、殺菌が十分でない飲み水を経由して伝染しまくりの状況のようです。最初にNDM-1のエントリを書いて１年弱が経過しましたが、ここまで悪化すると、もう封じ込めは難しいかもしれません。『仁』じゃないですが、ペニシリン以前の生活に逆戻りするという最悪のシナリオも考えられます。原発事故も心配だけれど、こっちの方が我々の生活に影響大です。
Without a concerted effort, people could be dealing with the "nightmare scenario" of worldwide spread of untreatable infections, says the WHO.One example is the New Delhi or NDM-1 superbug recently found in UK patients.
They brought the infection back with them from countries like India and Pakistan, where they had visited for medical treatment and cosmetic surgery.
These superbugs are resistant to carbapenem antibiotics, which is concerning for experts because they are some of our most powerful weapons and are used for hard-to-treat infections that evade other drugs.
The Cardiff University researchers, who made the discovery last August, now say bacteria with this new genetic resistance to antibiotics have contaminated New Delhi's drinking water supply, meaning millions of people there could be carriers....
Worryingly, the gene had spread to bacteria that cause dysentery and cholera, which can be easily passed from person to person via sewage-contaminated drinking water....
Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe, said: "Antibiotics are a precious discovery, but we take them for granted, overuse and misuse them: there are now superbugs that do not respond to any drugs.
