ONE SUPERBUG CASE DETECTED IN MALAYSIA

GUA MUSANG (Kelantan, Malaysia), Oct 27 (Bernama) -- One case of
antibiotic-resistant superbug infection was detected in Malaysia last month, Health
Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Tuesday.

Although the woman patient had fully recovered and posed no danger to the
public, the ministry would continue taking precautionary measures to ensure that
the bacteria did not spread, he added.

"She has been discharged from Ampang Hospital but is still on medication. She
has another illness, leukaemia... the superbug did not cause any lasting harm to
her," he told reporters at the nomination centre for the Galas state by-election
here.

He said that she did not infect anyone because "the bacteria only colonises the
body of the carrier," he added.

Liow said that overuse of antibiotics was one cause of superbug infection.

The ministry therefore instructed all doctors in the country not to prescribe
more antibiotics than were necessary, he added.

The superbug infection was first detected in 2008, with cases reported in India,
Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
-- BERNAMA