Superbug is back, says Ganga Ram Hospital

Health Minister A K Walia has called a meeting on Friday to discuss the matter

Superbug is back, says Ganga Ram Hospital

Health Minister A K Walia has called a meeting on Friday to discuss the matter

Superbug is back to the Capital, claims a leading hospital in Delhi after a research of five months. The research conducted by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital found significant growth of bacteria in many cultures.u00a0 In this regard, the Delhi government said on Wednesday that it has taken the matter seriously and will discuss the issue with all stakeholders on Friday.

Bugging issue: Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital conducted the study
over five months. File pic

Health Minister A K Walia, refusing to comment on findings of the study, said a meeting has been called to discuss the issue further. "It is a serious issue. We have not received any report from the hospital concerned. But I have called a meeting of all stakeholders to discuss the matter," he said. He was addressing the media following the report.

International health journal 'The Lancet', in August 2010, had published a multi-centre study warning how a superbug, NDM1, had emerged in India and spread across the world. The superbug is an enzyme that makes bacteria highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, including the most powerful class called carbapanems.
Another study was published in the same journal about the superbug in seepage and tap water in Delhi. Dr Mark Toleman, senior research fellow from Cardiff University in UK who co-authored the latter study, said NDM1 was fast spreading into communities and environment.

The government had protested naming the virus after New Delhi. The Union Health Ministry had also severely contested the findings of the Lancet study. In April this year, Lancet had reported that the superbug was found in about a quarter of water samples taken from drinking supplies and puddles on the streets of New Delhi. The Delhi Jal Board, however, dispelled the concerns and said the water being supplied by the agency was "safe" for drinking.

Fact file
Reports said, in a study carried out in the ICU and wards of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the overall prevalence of NDM1 varied between 8.1 per cent in isolates of E coli and 38.02 per cent in the isolates of K pneumoniae ufffdtwo types of bacteria found commonly in post-operative patients, immune-compromised patients and those suffering from terminal illnesses. The doctors were quoted by the report saying they conducted the study over five months. "A total of 10,889 samples were processed, of which 2,669 samples from wards and 2,598 from ICU were found positive for significant growth of bacteria. We then isolated 379 units of E coli and 305 isolates of K pneumoniae-hosts to NDM1 and culprits in respiratory infections," the report said.