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Friday, July 29, 2011

UK : New superbug found at Princess Royal Hospital, Telford

Via Shropshire Star :

" Nine patients in Shropshire contracted a new superbug that is resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics following urology treatment at a county hospital, new reports have revealed.

Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) Klebsiella emerged last year after it was believed to have travelled back to Britain in patients who went to India or Pakistan for medical procedures such as cosmetic surgery.

Reports to health chiefs in Shropshire say a cluster of nine patients were found to have contracted the bug in June 2010 following a rigid cystoscopy procedure at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

In most cases the symptoms were either “mild or non-symptomatic” but two patients required intravenous antibiotics.

Medical experts say a new gene known as NDM-1 allows bacteria to be highly resistant to almost all antibiotics and it has spread in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. NDM-1 can exist inside different bacteria, such as E.coli, and makes them resistant to one of the most powerful groups of antibiotics – carbapenems. These are reserved for use in emergencies and to combat hard-to-treat infections caused by other multi-resistant bacteria.

A report to the board of Shropshire County PCT earlier this week says swabs taken from the head of the camera used at the PRH last year grew the resistant Klebsiella – indicating that it was the “probable cause” of cross infection."

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