Govt slams drug resistant 'Superbug'

New Delhi, Aug 14: The Government slammed drug resistant 'superbug' NDM-1, which is originating in India, calling it alarmist on Friday, Aug 12.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that it was unfair to claim that the so called 'superbug' NDM-1 was found only in India and Pakistan.

"It's universal and is found in intestine of humans and animals. It's wrong to say that it's found only in India and Pakistan. They say it's found in patients who visit India and Pakistan. It was nowhere mentioned if the bacteria are found even before those persons visited India," Azad said.

Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi even said that the study was conducted with an ulterior motive."Karthikeyan, one of the co-authors, have denied and disassociated from this report. We have to find if there's some ulterior motive of some pharmaceutical industry," said Trivedi.

Sources say 8 out of 31 researchers involved in the study are from six research institutes in India including Banaras Hindu University and University of Madras.

NDM-1 bacterium is resistant to almost all-known antibiotics and causes gastric problems and multiple organ failure, leading to death.

The co-author of the study, Karthikeyan K Kumaraswamy, defended the findings saying that it will not affect medical tourism in India as the bacteria is found all over the world, including Europe and the US.

OneIndia News