New superbug hits mainland
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There is no connection between the death of an 83-year-old man and the new superbug NDM-1, health officials said on Tuesday.
He was one of the first three people infected with the superbug on the Chinese mainland.
The Ministry of Health and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that the man from East China's Fujian province died of lung cancer in June.
Two babies from Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, both born in early March at the same hospital, were also found to have the superbug.
They are now doing well at home after medical treatment, officials said.
It was the first time the new NDM-1 superbug, which is resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics, has been detected on the Chinese mainland.
"Currently, the NDM-1 superbug can only jump between different bacteria rather than people, and it happens mostly at medical institutions," said Ni Daxin, director of the unknown cause disease office of CDC.
So the possibility of widespread human infection outside hospitals remains slim and the public need not panic, he said.
He called for people to maintain good personal hygiene by washing their hands frequently, and adhere to the proper protocols while using antibiotics despite the fact that antibiotics overuse, if not abuse, is rampant here.
But he also conceded that more NDM-1 cases might remain undetected in the country due to limited surveillance capacity and relatively poor awareness.
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