First ‘superbug’ infections reported

Experts have warned against panicking after two NDM-1 cases have been registered in Austria.The federal health ministry announced today (Fri) that doctors at University Clinic Graz had found that two patients had intestinal bacteria resistant to commonly used hospital antibiotics.University Clinic Graz chief Gernot Brunner said: “Such multi-resistant germs appear all over the world from time to time. This is nothing new.”Brunner added the bacteria may have originated in Pakistan or India.He explained one of the sick patients was a 30-year-old Austrian man who had suffered a motorcycle crash in Pakistan, while the other person suffering from bacteria known as NDM-1 was a 14-year-old Albanian.Scientists fear the “superbug” alters bacteria to make them resistant to nearly all known antibiotics.