International health journal Lancet has accused the Government of India of “suppressing truth” about the presence of a drug-resistant bacteria in the public water system here by “threatening” and “abusing” its own scientists.

It also dubbed as “unfortunate” the government's denial of presence of such bacteria.

Mark Toleman, one of the co-authors of the study that claimed to have detected the bacteria in the capital's waters, said it was named ‘New Delhi-beta-lactamase' first in an American journal called Antibiotic Agents and Chemotherapy in 2009 and the naming had nothing to do with Lancet.

“In fact, our original paper was rejected by Lancet,” he said.

‘Research entirely scientific'

“The research is entirely scientific. If you look at our publication record for the last 10 years, you will find that discovering new and emerging mechanisms of resistance is what we have been doing for 10 years,” Mr. Toleman told PTI via e-mail.

“You will also notice that we have done similar studies on isolates from many different countries. Furthermore, a responsible response would be to empower Indian scientists to do similar studies. “Unfortunately, the Indian government is in denial and actively suppresses the truth by threatening and abusing their own scientists,” he said.

Asked about a senior Health Ministry official's claim that the researchers transferred samples for the study illegally, the magazine's press officer, Tony Kirby, said: “We broke no Indian laws whatsoever.” The debate over naming the bacteria should not detract from the importance of the findings and the implications that they might have for human health, he said.

“We recognise that a discussion continues about the appropriateness of naming microorganisms, enzymes, genes, and their associated diseases with an identifier that some observers may feel stigmatises a place or a people,” he said.

Naming a sensitive issue

The official said this “important and sensitive” issue was being examined by editors and may be discussed.

“For now, naming is the responsibility of the authors of the paper, and in the case of NDM—1, we are continuing to use a name first published in 2008, two years before its previous appearance in the Lancet Infectious Diseases,” he said.

“Furthermore, NDM-1 is the correct name and follows the naming of most genes of this type. Others are named SPM-1 for Sao Paulo metallo-b-lactamase, SIM for Seoul imipenemase in Korea, VIM for Veronna imipenemase in Italy, GIM for Germany imipenemase and DIM for Dutch imipenemase,” he said. — PTI