Gov't to begin nationwide survey of infections with NDM-1 superbug

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TOKYO, Sept. 7 Kyodo -
Health minister Akira Nagatsuma said Tuesday the government will begin possibly
later this week a survey of how far a new type of antibiotics-resistant
bacteria has spread across Japan.
The government ''would like to gather more information on the nationwide
situation relating to multidrug-resistant bacteria,'' the minister of health,
labor and welfare told a news conference.
The government also intends to enhance reporting requirements concerning
bacteria, leading the multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter to be added to the
current list of five types of multidrug-resistant bacteria whose detection must
be reported to the government, he said.
He made the remarks after Dokkyo Medical University Hospital announced Monday
that it found a new variant of superbug carrying the NDM-1 gene, which makes
bacteria resistant to most antibiotics, in a Japanese male patient in his 50s
after his return from India. The finding represented the first detection of
such a superbug in Japan.
In another development Monday, Nagatsuma's ministry inspected Teikyo University
Hospital in Tokyo over the deaths of inpatients from infection with
antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the hospital's delayed reporting of the
situation to authorities.
Nagatsuma also told reporters that the National Institute of Infectious
Diseases and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will start an on-the-spot
investigation at the hospital later this week into its measures for the
prevention of in-hospital Acinetobacter infections.
After examining the findings, the ministry will consider how to block a
potential spread of in-hospital infections with the new type of
antibiotics-resistant bacteria, he said.
Sources familiar with the matter said the government will determine how to
confirm the presence of the NDM-1 gene in bacteria found in patients.
The government also hopes to clarify whether any newly found infection cases
are linked to the patient found with the bacteria at Dokkyo Medical University
Hospital.
At present, various medical institutions in Japan are conducting tests to see
whether bacteria detected in body specimens collected from patients of
infectious diseases are resistant to various antibiotics.
Any medical institution detecting bacteria that can resist multiple antibiotics
in body specimens may be required to send the specimens in question to the
National Institute of Infectious Diseases for further checks to see if the
specimens contain the NDM-1 gene, the sources said.
==Kyodo
2010-09-08 00:05:11