New superbug identified in Alberta resident
Posted August 11, 2010 11:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
At least two Canadians – one in Alberta and one in Vancouver – have been infected with a new gene that allows any bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics.
A Calgary doctor discovered the superbug in the Alberta patient.
Few details have been released about the patient; however, it is known they picked up the bacteria after being treated at a hospital in India.
Dr. Johann Pitout, a medical researcher at the University of Calgary who also works with Calgary Laboratory Services, helped identify the case about two months ago.
He told 660News the superbug is resistant to even the strongest antibiotics.
“At this moment and time it is not a huge problem. It is a huge problem for people that are travelling to those places and they get admitted to one of the hospitals in those areas. They are at the highest risk of getting these bugs and bringing it back to Canada.”
The journal, Lancet Infectious Diseases, carried a report Wednesday on the discovery of the new gene, called NDM-1, which alters bacteria, making them resistant to nearly all known antibiotics.
The superbug is widespread in India and has been identified in 37 people who returned to Britain after surgery in India or Pakistan.
