Drug-resistant Superbug to Blame for Deadly Typhoid Outbreak in Pakistan

A major outbreak of typhoid fever in Pakistan may have been caused by a highly drug-resistant superbug, scientists have warned.

Research by the Wellcome Sanger Institute has shown that the typhoid strain behind the outbreak, which began in Hyderabad in November 2016 and has since spread, has acquired an extra piece of DNA that renders it resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Representative image, source: Max Pixel

“It is significant because it marks the first time we have seen such high levels of drug resistance in typhoid,” said Elizabeth Klemm of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, who co-led research carried out in collaboration with Public Health England and Aga Khan University in Karachi. “Increasing drug resistance means we have fewer drugs available to effectively treat the infection.”

Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. The bacteria, spread by contaminated food and water, is highly contagious, and spreads through communities with poor sanitation. Symptoms include fever, stomach pain, headache and constipation or diarrhoea. If left untreated, the infection can be fatal.

There is no official information available on case numbers or deaths in Pakistan, but local media reports claim more than 800 cases of drug-resistant typhoid were detected in Hyderabad alone over a 10-month period between 2016 and 2017. An emergency vaccination campaign is now under way.

Read full article: The Guardian

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