Look at superbug rationally

 
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The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement on Thursday that the study was funded by the European Union and two pharmaceutical companies -- Wellcome Trust and Wyeth -- that produce antibiotics for treatment of such cases.

Since the emergence of the new superbug, share prices of many pharmaceutical companies have soared in the stock market in Europe and across the globe. India's booming medical tourism, however, seems less attractive as patients are worry about potential exposure to the bug.

Therefore, speculation is on the rise that the great attention given to the new "superbug" is economically motivated.

In fact, the threat of the new superbug was magnified along with the dispute over its naming.

The World Health Organization has not yet issued an alert on the new superbug as it did with the A/H1N1 influenza virus pandemic.

Such multiple drug-resistant bacteria have appeared around the world, marked by the rise of "superbug" infections like methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA).

On top of that, both the authors of the study and prominent international experts have said the "superbug" is far less infectious and dangerous than the A/H1N1 influenza and infection does not have a high frequency.

What is more important, human beings are not at the end of their wits in fighting "superbugs." Though MRSA is resistant to 15 to 30 different antibioltics, doctors still have a small number of compounds at hand that are able to kill it. Special treatments, such as specific antibiotics and traditional Chinese medicine sterilization, have not had a shot.

As for the new superbug, the British National Health Service has said regular hand-washing would help to prevent infections in the first place.

Experts pointed out that "superbugs" are created by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, which was a magic weapon to kill bacterium at its birth.

Almost as soon as the first antibiotic, penicillin, was introduced in the 1940s, bacteria began to develop resistance to its effects, prompting scientists to develop new generations of antibiotics. Nowadays, multiple drug-resistant bacterium are already a growing concern in hospitals across the world.

What human beings should learn from the superbug incident is to consider ways to seriously control the use of antibiotics and prevent the birth of another superbug.

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