Incensed by reports that a drug resistant superbug has been traced to India, government today said there was a need to find out whether some "ulterior motives" were behind the claim.

"We are all concerned about it. Superbug is a global phenomenon. It is not area or country specific. I can tell you this with all the responsibility under my command," minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi told reporters outside Parliament.

"You have read that Kumarswamy Kartikan, one of the co-authors of the report has denied, he has disassociated, from this report," the minister said.

Trivedi said the country cannot take the reports lying down and ought to get to the depth of it.

"...obviously, we have to find out if there are some kind of ulterior motives or not of some pharmaceutical industries as well. I personally feel that sometimes, some things are commercially motivated. So we ought to get into the detail and depth of it. As a country we cannot take anything lying down," he stated.

He said as far as drug resistance is concerned, it was a "separate issue".

The minister also strongly objected to naming the bug after New Delhi.

"It is like HIV. As far as my information is, the first patient of HIV was in America. Can we say it has originated in America. So instead of HIV, can we say America NMD or something like that," he said in dig at western researchers.

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Parts of NDM report doctored: Indian co-author of study

The Indian co-author of the medical study linking hospitals in the country to a multi- resistant "superbug" dismissed as hypothetical this conclusion and said some alarmist interpretations were made without his knowledge.

Adding a new dimension to the uproar in the country over the study's conclusion that the superbug called New Delhimetallo-beta-lactamese was transmitted from the country, Karthikeyan Kumarasawamy said there was nothing to worry or fear about this bacteria.

"Without my knowledge some of the interpretations were written in the report", said the 32-year-old research scholar at AL Mudaliar Post Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras.

Karthikeyan co-authored with Timothy Walsh the research article published in 'Lancet' that highlighted how the deadly superbug threatens to spread across the world.

He said many countries have been doing research on this bacteria, which has a different name in each country.

"Recently in Seoul and in Germany scientists found similar kinds of virus. But no one created this much hype."

"The media has speculated the whole matter. That the bacteria was transmitted from our country is just hypothetical. Unless we analyse samples from across the globe to confirm its presence, we can only speculate", Erode-based Karthikeyan told PTI.

The research scholar said the NDM-1 bacteria was not a big issue and that the "bacteria was not that big and vulnerable as H1NI, which currently exists."

The Department of Health in UK has already put out an alert in the wake of the Lancet report raising the hackles of the Indian medical fraternity.

The Union Health Ministry reacted angrily and came out with a strong statement against the report, saying the contents of the article present a "frightening picture" which is not supported by any scientific data.

Karthikeyan said details about NDM-1 bacteria have already been published in an Indian journal by a hospital in Mumbai six months ago. "Our intention in publishing the research study is just to show its prevalence in India."

"I am a little bit worried that the whole issue has been taken up at Parliament level", he said, adding some sections of the media had repeatedly "misinterpreted" the issue.

After the study's findings, the medical fraternity across India slammed the report, saying it was apparently aimed at hitting India's booming medical tourism market that was taking away business from the West.

"Medical tourism will not be affected in our country.

The study only tells about the bacteria and not about its spreading activities," he said.

Karthikeyan termed as "untrue" that NDM-1 bacteria can resist all medicines. "Of course it (NDM-1) bacteria can resist some medicines. There will be medicines that will resist this bacteria. Scientists will soon find that".

The study, based on a survey of patients in Indian cities, said a multi-drug resistant strain of bacteria was spreading from Indian hospitals. The bug that enters the bloodstream through infected hospital equipment could lead to multiple organ failure, it said.

Madras University yesterday honoured Karthikeyan for his research.

Asked if he would continue research on NDM-1,he said he would do so. "I will continue work in this area and also to eradicate this gene and develop strong drugs".

"I will stay in India and continue to do research activities for the benefit of my people", he said.