BMJ  2008;336:1322 (14 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.a226

Editorials

The emergence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Superbug or opportunist?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The recent publication of the genome sequence of the bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was accompanied by a press statement that described this organism as a "newly emerging superbug."1 2 This was followed by a flurry of headlines in the United Kingdom informing the public of problems related to S maltophilia, such as the apparent "rising death toll fear in hospitals" (Daily Mirror) and the concern of doctors that "no antibiotics can stop it" (the Sun). Suddenly, the public had a new superbug (or even "mega-bug", as it was referred to in the Sun) to worry about.

So, what must a bacterium do to earn "superbug" status? One prerequisite is resistance to multiple antibiotics and the associated difficulty in treating infections. Using this criterion, S maltophilia is a strong candidate because it is inherently resistant to a wide range of antibiotics and can become more resistant by the . . . [Full text of this article]

Alan P Johnson, clinical scientist, Georgia J Duckworth, director

1 Department of Healthcare-Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London NW9 5EQ

alan.johnson@hpa.org.uk


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