It's called NDM-1 and can cause cholera, dysentery and tuberculosis. Traces of the bacteria in public water reservoirs and wells, also close to play areas for children. The situation is "alarming" for the group of researchers who conducted the research.

New Delhi (AsiaNews / Agencies) - New species of NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase), the super bacteria resistant to any kind of antibiotic, were found in water supplies in New Delhi. It is the first time that the bacterium has been found in the environment, according to a report by a team of experts from the University of Cardiff School of Medicine, published in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The Welsh group had identified the NDM-1 August 2010, found in isolated cases in people admitted to hospital. Among the species of bacteria, including those that cause cholera and dysentery. The research began after a significant number of people admitted to a hospital in the city, did not respond to treatment.

Tim Walsh, head of the team of researchers from Cardiff, called the results "extremely worrying". "We found traces of bacteria – he explained – in public water used for drinking, washing, preparing food but also in wells and streams that flow in areas with high population density, where children play." The NDM-1, once contracted, proliferates in the gastrointestinal tract like normal flora.

Even the New Delhi council conducted research: of water samples taken from 600 different public sites of the city, 18% is not suitable for drinking due to contamination by Escherichia coli, Salmonella and other pathogenic bacteria present in human faeces. It is yet another paradox of a country that is experiencing a period of strong economic growth, but where there are fewer bathrooms and phones: a recent UN report showed that 650 million Indian citizens have no access to toilets or to clean running water.

The temperatures and the monsoon - typical of the Indian climate  - make New Delhi an ideal place for the spread of NDM-1. Research shows that the best habitat for the proliferation of these organisms is at 30 ° C, a temperature reached in the city for about seven months a year.

According to Walsh, the misuse of antibiotics, helped by their sale without a prescription, has contributed to the emergence of this highly resistant bacteria. "The proposal not to sell antibiotics without prescription is good – says the  researcher - but it's too late. The damage was done. The submerged part of the iceberg now, is huge. "  

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