PRO~TEX™ proves efficacy on Klebsiella pneumoniae NDM-1 (“New Delhi” Superstrain)

Dec. 9, 2010 - PRLog -- PRO~TEX™ Instant Foam Hand Sanitizer is the first product of its kind with demonstrated efficacy against Klebsiella pneumoniae NDM-1 positive, an emerging Drug-Resistant pathogen that carries the New Delhi metallobeta lactamase (NDM-1) enzyme making it resistant to a broad range of antibiotics.
Klebsiella pneumoniae NDM-1 positive is part of a family of Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria. These newly identified antibiotic-resistant strains of Klebsiella are of great cause for concern, especially in clinical settings like hospitals or long-term care facilities, being Drug-Resistant to the mainstay antibiotics used in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. The gene for NDM-1 is one member of a large gene family that encodes beta-lactamase enzymes called carbapenemases. Bacteria that produce carbapenemases are often referred to in the news media as”superstrains” and "superbugs" because infections caused by them are difficult to treat.
These superbugs are often resistant to an extremely wide array of antibiotics, which severely limits a clinician's therapeutic options with infected patients. With fewer and fewer effective antibiotic options available, healthcare institutions need more effective disinfectants with shorter exposure times and better surface hygiene practices.  Daily-use products such as PRO~TEX™ Instant Foam Hand Sanitizer may become important weapons against superbugs.
NDM-1 was first identified in December 2009 in a patient hospitalized in New Delhi with an infection caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae. It was later detected in bacteria in India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan and Brazil. The most common bacteria that make this enzyme are Gram negative such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, but the gene for NDM-1 can spread from one strain of bacteria to another by horizontal gene transfer.
There is a fear that the NDM-1 could jump to even more bacteria that are already resistant to even more antibiotics, making the NDM-1 affected bacteria impossible to kill by known methods. Drug resistance is transferred from one bacterium to another by plasmids, genetic material that move from one organism to another and reproduces, passing along the resistance, and NDM-1 has been shown to transfer from one bacterium to another creating new superbugs. The NDM-1 positive bacteria are resistant to the number one antibiotic used for hard to treat infections and emergencies, the Carbapenems.
The NDM-1 enzyme was named after New Delhi, the capital city of India, as it was first described by Yong et al. in December 2009 in a Swedish national who fell ill with an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection that he acquired in India. The infection was unsuccessfully treated in a New Delhi hospital and after the patient's repatriation to Sweden, a carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strain bearing the novel gene was identified. The authors concluded that the new resistance mechanism "clearly arose in India, but there are few data arising from India to suggest how widespread it is." In March 2010 a study in a hospital in Mumbai found that most carbapenem-resistant bacteria isolated from patients carried the NDM-1 gene.

The CDC advises any hospitals that find such cases to put the patient in medical isolation, check the patient's close contacts for possible infection, and look for more infections in the hospital.

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EDMAR CHEMICAL is a leading manufacturer of infection control (MRSA) products for institutional, educational, correction and athletic environments. Pro-Tex, alcohol-free hand & skin sanitizer, BacStop fabric sanitizer, SureClean surface disinfectant