Patiala, November 22 While the movie world, especially Hollywood, is cashing on super heroes fighting gigantic villains, in reality, the world faces a grave threat from superbugs. Superbugs are antibiotic-resistant bacteria and other microorganisms that cannot be treated with advance drugs known to the mankind. Continuous exposure to antibiotics and chemicals to the microorganisms have led to certain strains which has helped them evolve. Earlier this year, the death of a 70-year-old American woman after getting infected in India brought NDM-1 back to limelight. The New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) is a strain of enzyme that makes bacteria resistant to antibiotics, and was first discovered in 2008 which led to the death of a Swedish national of Indian origin. “Excessive, non-prescribed antibiotic abuse by people in India is a major problem. Due to lack of clear guidance on the sale of drugs as well as partial implementation of the existing guidelines creates rapid misuse of antibiotics. Drugs are available over the counter, which is a big problem as well. Just because these drugs tend to have immediate effect, instead of taking leaves or facing little inconvenience, people have developed the habit of popping pills. The new findings of pollution and chemical forcing a certain evolutionary state in microorganisms in the environment is a cause for further concern. There are few answers, but none potent enough to deal with an epidemic of superbugs,” said Dr Prashant Bhatt, Consultant, Internal Medicine Columbia Asia Hospital, Patiala.

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