The NDM-1 “Superbug” and How to Avoid It
First identified in a published report in 2009, NDM-1 (or New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1) is actually an enzyme that attaches itself to a wide variety of bacteria, and renders that bacteria strongly resistant to the most potent broad-spectrum antibiotics, known as carbapenems.
Among the first known patients affected by NDM-1 was a patient being treated for a urinary tract infection in a Swedish hospital who had previously been treated in a hospital in New Delhi, India, where the enzyme is thought to have originated.1 Since then, occurrences of NDM-1 have been found on all continents.
So, while NDM-1 does not carry its own health risks and symptoms, in conjunction with certain bacteria, it can make medical treatment much more difficult.