The NDM-1 gene grants bacteria resistance to "last resort" carbapenem antibiotics. How many people a year require this antibiotic?

This is a very insightful question. The first step, as you mention, is to determine the type of patients that actually require the use of carbapenem antibiotics. This class of antibiotics has been reserved for use in emergencies and in only the most critical cases, as a ''last resort'' and with patients that are suffering from infections that are caused by bacteria that are resistant to multiple kinds of alternative treatments.

Patients in acute care facilities, those with compromised immune systems and emergency room patients make up the typical population of individuals who might require these antibiotics. So as a very general estimate, one could predict that these populations of patients would be most at risk to the resistant effects of the NDM-1 gene. While past prescription statistics may be one predictor for the number of people who could be impacted by the 'superbug', the numbers are hard to pin down.

These drugs are administered intravenously, usually while under the care of a doctor at a hospital, they are not typically prescribed or taken as pills or in other forms. The antibiotic must be administered in correct doses or (as with all antibiotics) the risk of antibiotic resistance can increase.

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