Serbia potential hotbed of super-resistant bacteria

Serbia has reported several deaths caused by the NDM-1 bacteria, resistant to even the strongest antibiotics, Belgrade’s Blic daily said on Thursday, adding that world experts had designated Serbia as a potential hotbed of this dangerous superbug.

According to Blic, scientists have warned that NDM-1 has been found among people from Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands who travelled to India or Serbia for surgery.

The new bacteria gene, called New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1 or NDM-1, is present in bacteria resistant to nearly all known antibiotics, including the carbapenem family, considered the strongest and most reliable antibiotics for many infections.

“The superbug has been identified in eight patients in our country in 2011 and 2012, but this isn’t the real picture of NDM-1 presence, just the tip of the iceberg. The patients were treated at the Military Medical Academy and at a private clinic,” Dr. Branko Jovcic from the Belgrade Faculty of Biology was quoted as saying.

This expert said it was long believed that this bacteria started spreading in India, but later data showed that the Balkan region, notably Serbia, was a reservoir of NDM-1 and possibly its second endemic region.

Jovcic lamented the lack of a reaction from the relevant institutions.

He said the death rate in NDM-1 cases was up to 50 per cent, depending on a patient’s age, immune system, and quality of health care.

He said Serbia had been brought to this position because of antibiotic abuse, resulting in more resistant bacteria.

Jovcic said hospitals were full of bacteria which “have made themselves at home” there, becoming much more resistant.

Pin It