New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1
Bacteria that produce carbapenemases are often referred to in the news media as "superbugs" because infections caused by them are difficult to treat.
[9] Carbapenems are a class of beta-lactam antibiotics that are capable of killing most bacteria by inhibiting the synthesis of one of their cell wall layers.
[citation needed] NDM-1 functions through two zinc ions present in the active site that cause hydrolysis of the beta-lactams, rendering them ineffective.
The authors warned that international travel and patients' use of multiple countries' healthcare systems could lead to the "rapid spread of NDM-1 with potentially serious consequences".
"[19] However, US experts stated that it is unclear as to whether this strain is any more dangerous than existing antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which are already common in the USA.
[20] In July 2010, a team in New Delhi reported a cluster of three cases of Acinetobacter baumannii bearing blaNDM-1 that were found in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Chennai, India, in April 2010.
As previously, the bacteria were fully resistant to all the aminoglycoside, β-lactam, and quinolone antibiotics, but were susceptible to tigecycline and colistin.
In May 2009, a Japanese man in his 50s who had recently returned from vacation in India was struck with a fever and hospitalized, later making a full recovery.
[23] An environmental point prevalence study conducted between 26 September and 10 October 2010 found bacteria with the NDM-1 gene in drinking water and seepage samples in New Delhi.
[25] Science Daily reported on the 16 December 2013 that a team of scientists from Rice, Nankai and Tianjin universities found NDM-1 in two wastewater treatment plants in northern China.
[26] In June 2014 it was reported that the molecule aspergillomarasmine A from the Aspergillus fungus turns off the resistance mechanism of NDM-1 and thus makes bacteria once again sensitive to traditional antibiotics.
[31][33] A Bharatiya Janata Party politician has instead argued that the journal article is bogus and represented an attempt to scare medical tourists away from India.
[35] A co-author of the 2010 Lancet study, who is based in the University of Madras, has stated that he does not agree with the part of the article that advises people to avoid elective surgeries in India.
[38] However, on 12 January 2011, the editor of The Lancet, Richard Horton, apologized and acknowledged that naming the resistance enzyme after New Delhi was an "error".
[39] The first reported death due to bacteria expressing the NDM-1 enzyme was recorded in August 2010, when a Belgian man infected while undergoing treatment in a hospital in Pakistan died despite being administered colistin.
