More antibiotic-resistant superbugs found in China
More and more patients are infected with superbugs that can even resist last resort antibiotics used in extreme situations. About 1 per cent of those samples were resistant to colistin. The danger is that nothing might be available to treat bacterial infections, a remote scenario that cannot be ruled out.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – A growing number of people in China may be infected with antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
Researchers examined more than 17,000 samples from patients with infections of common bacteria found in the gut, in two hospitals in China’s Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, over eight years.
About 1 per cent of those samples were resistant to colistin, often considered the last option in antibiotics.
We might not be “very close to that happening, but it is a remote possibility if we aren’t careful about how we use our antibiotics,” one expert said.
The study, published in the Lancet journal, is one of the first to document the extent of drug-resistant infections in more than one Chinese province.
For decades, China has used colistin in agriculture to speed animals’ growth. Scientists say the latest work is further evidence that overuse in animals can spread to people.
Chinese officials earlier this year approved colistin for use in hospitals, raising fears that it could worsen the resistance problem.
Health officials have long worried that antibiotic-resistant bacteria might spread more widely, setting the stage for superbug infections that would theoretically be impervious to medications. Only a small number of such cases worldwide have been detected.
The worst case scenario would be for these bacteria to become untreatable even with the toughest drugs available today.
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