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Journalism of Courage
Researchers in a Mumbai hospital had reported presence of a multi-drug resistant superbug in an article published in an Indian medical journal,months before the Lancet study that has caused an outrage in the country’s medical fraternity and drawn criticism from the government.
The Lancet article,however,did not cite this paper in its issue and quoted only the editorial which appeared in JAPI.
Hinduja researchers had come to the conclusion after noticing 22 instances of New Delhi Metallo-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) in 24 patients between August and November last year.
“This high number in a relatively short span is a worrisome trend that compromises the treatment options with carbapenems (a type of antibiotics used against multi-drug resistant infections),” the article in JAPI said.
According to medical experts,superbugs or any other microbes are present everywhere and are not specific to any city,country or religion.
A study conducted by Dr Jean Louis Vincent and colleagues of Erasme University Hospital in Brussels published in the December 2009 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association said heavy use of antibiotics in ICUs can make such units into epicentres for bacteria to mutate into drug-resistant forms and spread.
Sanjay Borude,bariatric surgeon at the Breach Candy Hospital,who performs weight loss procedures across the country and abroad,stressed the need for exhaustive research on this issue and termed the Lancet study as a haphazardly done survey.
“Having personally operated on more than 200 patients from various countries abroad,I can safely vouch for the fact that not a single complication has ever occurred (due to superbugs),” Bourde said. He called for adherence to a rational antibiotic policy in all hospitals.
The Lancet study on NDM1 superbug came in for sharp criticism by India which said there was the need to find out whether there were “ulterior motives” behind the claim as it had been funded by a pharmaceutical major.
“The study was funded by a pharmaceutical company which is one of the biggest antibiotics makers in the world,” Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had said yesterday reacting to the report.
