Superbugs On the Rise; GMOs to Blame?

Superbugs On the Rise; GMOs to Blame?

* Gut superbug causing more illnesses, deaths
Associated Press, 5/28/08
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ATLANTA - The number of people hospitalized with a dangerous intestinal superbug has been growing by more than 10,000 cases a year, according to a new study.

The germ, resistant to some antibiotics, has become a regular menace in hospitals and nursing homes. The study found it played a role in nearly 300,000 hospitalizations in 2005, more than double the number in 2000.

The infection, Clostridium difficile, is found in the colon and can cause diarrhea and a more serious intestinal condition known as colitis. It is spread by spores in feces. But the spores are difficult to kill with most conventional household cleaners or antibacterial soap.

C-diff, as it's known, has grown resistant to certain antibiotics that work against other colon bacteria. The result: When patients take those antibiotics, competing bacteria die off and C-diff explodes.

This virulent strain of C-diff was rarely seen before 2000.

"The nature of this infection is changing. It's more severe," said Dr. L. Clifford McDonald, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert who was not part of the study.

There are other factors that play into the rise of C-diff cases as well, including a larger of number of patients who are older and sicker. "And there may be some overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics," said Dr. Marya Zilberberg, a University of Massachusetts researcher and lead author of the study.

The Zilberberg study was based on a sample of more than 36 million annual discharges from non-governmental U.S. hospitals. That data was used to generate the study's national estimates.

The research is being published in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a CDC publication.

Using other scientists' estimates, the study concluded that 2.3 percent of the cases in 2004 were fatal - about 5,500 deaths. That was nearly double the percentage of C-diff-related cases that ended in death in 2000.

Many of the people who died had other health problems. The study did not try to determine if Clostridium difficile was the main cause of death in each case, Zilberberg said.

But earlier research concluded the infection is the underlying cause of thousands of deaths annually, and the problem is getting worse.

C-diff has become an acute health concern in Canada, where it was blamed for 260 deaths at seven Ontario hospitals recently, and 2,000 deaths in Quebec since 2002.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology is currently working with U.S. hospitals to study prevalence of the infection and what infection control measures seem to work best.

"This is not a time for alarm, but more a time for educating health professionals to understand this particular pathogen," said Kathy Warye, chief executive of the Washington, D.C.-based association.

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Switzerland Bans GMOs till 2012

* GM crops banned in Switzerland until 2012
Agra Europe, 5/29/08
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The Swiss Federal Council (government) has voted to extend the country's moratorium on genetically modified (GM) plants for a further three years beyond the current expiry date of November 2010, Dow Jones reports.

The extension is to allow time for a national research programme into the benefits and risks of GM crops to be completed and the results assessed. Questions over the biological safety of GM plants and the coexistence of GM, conventional and organic crops are being addressed.

The Council imposed a moratorium on the commercial cultivation of GM crops in 2005, on the basis that there was no demand for them in Switzerland at the time and that big gaps remained in scientific knowledge about the risks of this technology.

Shortly after that, the research programme was launched, and this is expected to reach a conclusion around the middle of 2012. However, the Council said last week that it must be allowed to take its course without political pressure.

According to the Council, the moratorium has not caused any obvious problems, either for the farming industry, researchers, or international relations. In fact, it claimed, Swiss farmers have benefited from being able to market their produce on international markets as GM-free.

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Australian Chefs Reject GMOs

* Top chefs say no to GM foods
The Age, 5/29/08
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More than 50 of the country's top chefs have united to protest against the introduction of genetically modified (GM) food crops to Australia.

Last month, GM canola crops were planted for the first time in NSW and Victoria after the two states announced they would let their bans on genetically engineered food crops expire.

In response, local celebrity chefs including Neil Perry and Kylie Kwong have signed on to the GM Free Chefs' Charter, launched in collaboration with Greenpeace in Sydney.

The charter, unveiled at chef Jared Ingersoll's Danks Street Depot restaurant in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Waterloo, calls for the NSW and Victorian governments to reverse their position on growing GM canola and demands thorough labelling of all food products that contain GM ingredients.

Oils, starches and sugars, as well as animal feed derived from GM ingredients, should all come with a label, says the charter, which will be presented to Australian governments later this year.

Meat from animals which have eaten GM feed should also be signposted, it says.

There are currently no laws on the labelling of food containing GM canola.

Speaking at the charter's launch, Mr Ingersoll said the unknown long-term effects of eating GM foods were a major concern to him, both as a chef and a parent.

"I don't really want to put food in the mouth of my children that I'm not sure whether or not it's going to be damaging for them," he said.

"I'm not the sort of person that stands in the way of technology making advancement to make things better for people ... but with genetically modified food, once we go down that path then there's no going back.

"We are in the very unique position of having an amazing countryside that can produce lots of beautiful food and if we do take the path of Canada and other GM nations, it's going to be really limiting as to what direction we go in," he said.

GM food crops are known to be difficult to contain, and a 2001 Western Australian parliamentary inquiry into gene technology found the segregation of GM crops from non-GM crops was not practical and cross-contamination was "inevitable".

Mr Ingersoll said the rigorous labelling of GM foods was essential to allow consumers to make informed choices about what they ate.

"What I want to see happen today is that we start to see some labelling, we start to see some responsible action being taken that gives the consumer the opportunity to make the decision, because one thing I know is that politicians will do what they want, big companies will do what they want, but everybody relies on customers," he said.

"Without people supporting these (GM) businesses then these businesses won't be there. So we need to get this labelling in place to give consumers the ability to make their decisions."