Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000)
Oct 05, 2011
NDM-1 superbug hits neonatal ICUs, kills infants
New Delhi: India is hosting a global summit on antibiotic resistance in the capital this week, even as the NDM-1 superbug has now made its way into the neonatal ICUs in the country that is affecting and killing new-born babies.
Because of antibiotic resistance, nearly 60 thousand of new-born babies are dying every year in India of sepsis, a treatable blood infection, despite getting lifesaving antibiotics.
"The organisms in the hospitals have become multi-drug resistant. Even the highest antibiotics don't work and we don't have a strong immune system to support the fight the infection. Invariably the baby ends up losing the battle," Dr Vishal Singh, Sr Consultant, Paediatric Critical Care Unit, Neonatal ICU.
According to the Public Health foundation of India, 1 million babies die every year in India within the first 4 weeks of birth and 1 lakh 90 thousand of these babies are dying of sepsis, often due to lack of access to medicines.
But a whopping 30 per cent of these deaths are due to antibiotic resistance. In fact it is the premature babies who are most at risk, because their bodies lack certain antibodies that help fight the infections.
But that's not all, there's also the threat from the NDM-1 superbug. Four infants at a hospital in Birbhum district, in rural West Bengal, affected with the superbug, died within 72 hours.
Read more - IBNlive
Oct 05, 2011
NDM-1 superbug hits neonatal ICUs, kills infants
New Delhi: India is hosting a global summit on antibiotic resistance in the capital this week, even as the NDM-1 superbug has now made its way into the neonatal ICUs in the country that is affecting and killing new-born babies.
Because of antibiotic resistance, nearly 60 thousand of new-born babies are dying every year in India of sepsis, a treatable blood infection, despite getting lifesaving antibiotics.
"The organisms in the hospitals have become multi-drug resistant. Even the highest antibiotics don't work and we don't have a strong immune system to support the fight the infection. Invariably the baby ends up losing the battle," Dr Vishal Singh, Sr Consultant, Paediatric Critical Care Unit, Neonatal ICU.
According to the Public Health foundation of India, 1 million babies die every year in India within the first 4 weeks of birth and 1 lakh 90 thousand of these babies are dying of sepsis, often due to lack of access to medicines.
But a whopping 30 per cent of these deaths are due to antibiotic resistance. In fact it is the premature babies who are most at risk, because their bodies lack certain antibodies that help fight the infections.
But that's not all, there's also the threat from the NDM-1 superbug. Four infants at a hospital in Birbhum district, in rural West Bengal, affected with the superbug, died within 72 hours.
Read more - IBNlive