DOCTORS are becoming seriously concerned about a new superbug appearing in Singapore hospitals; it is much harder to treat than the more common methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Data collected from a public hospital in 2006 showed that drug-resistant acinetobacter baumannii bacteria killed seven in 10 patients who had been infected.
The issue was raised by a group of infectious diseases doctors who wrote a position paper last month about reducing antibiotic resistance in Singapore.
About 90 patients in public hospitals have been found to be infected by the superbug annually since 2006, said Assistant Professor Hsu Li Yang, lead author of the paper. A. baumannii bacteria rarely attack healthy individuals, and are more frequently found among critically ill hospital patients. The elderly, those with serious underlying diseases, weakened immune systems, or major trauma and burns are more vulnerable to the infection.
This means the chances of dying from it are higher, said Dr David Lye, an infectious diseases physician.
Doctors are concerned because over the last 10 years, the bacteria appear to be becoming more resistant to antibiotics.
Dr Lye said that in some patients, the bug is proving to be resistant even to the last line of antibiotics available - polymyxins, an intravenous antibiotic that was not used 60 years ago because it was considered too toxic.
'Definitely our rates of resistance to this are world-leading,' said Dr Lye. Rates of infection are higher in Singapore than in Denmark and Sweden.
MRSA is the more common antibiotic- resistant bug found in Singapore, infecting about 800 patients in public hospitals in 2006.
There are no official figures for deaths in Singapore, but overseas studies have shown that on average one in four dies after being infected with the superbug.
MRSA attacks when it enters the body through a wound in the skin, causing skin infections. It can also attack bones, joints, the blood and vital organs like the lungs.
JESSICA JAGANATHAN
Antibiotics 101
When should antibiotics be used?
Only when doctors are almost certain that patients have a bacterial infection. This includes pneumonia, meningitis and infections of the kidneys, liver and urinary tract.
They need not be used for viral infections like the traditional cough and cold, dengue and chikungunya
What types of antibiotics are available?
There are more than 30 different varieties available.
The most common are penicillin and fluoroquinolones which are taken orally.
