Antibiotics resistance blamed for 23,000 deaths annually
http://www.live5news.com/story/30608551/antibiotics-resistance-blamed-for-23000-deaths-annually
ATLANTA, GA (CNN) – According to the CDC, at least 2 million people a year in the U.S. become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, leading to more than 23,000 deaths.
We all know “germs” are bad, but some disease-causing bacteria have the ability to develop resistance to the drugs created to destroy them.
The overuse, or misuse, of prescription antibiotics, and the use of antibiotics in the food we eat, like beef and pork, are some of the causes.
What does it mean when your body doesn’t respond to antibiotics?
“Antibiotic resistance occurs when organisms have been exposed to different types of antibiotics, and once they’ve seen antibiotics they can develop and evolve, as part of their living process, a resistance to some of the antibiotics,”says Emory University Pharmacist Steve Mok.
If you experience this resistance, does it mean the bacteria are resistant to that antibiotic forever?
“As we remove antibiotic pressure – they’ll become not so resistant anymore. So, it’s very important that we use our antibiotics judiciously to make sure we get the right dose, taking it for the right amount of time to attack those organisms, so it can’t come back and hurt you later on,” Mok said.
Are there ways to reduce your risk of catching a resistant strain of bacteria?
“It’s very important for people to remember to wash their hands. the other one is to make sure you don’t share things like towels, razors nail clippers.those sorts of personal products,”Mok said.
Filed under: General Problems
Raising cattle and hogs indoors, without straw or sawdust as absorbent bedding, causes frequent reinfection in the herd of animals, because the animals are constantly ingesting each others’ fecal matter. Feedlots that operate in this manner, with the animals constantly walking or laying in manure, would make the animals too sick to survive…it’s only since antibiotics were invented, that farmers dared to try this unsanitary means of stock rearing.
Antibiotics should be used in livestock, exactly as they are in humans: Humans prevent infection by washing ourselves after defecating. We flush it down our toilets immediately. We wouldn’t pile it in our beds for a month and then lay in it and take a nap. After we humans have done all we can, by washing and sanitation, to avoid the danger of infection, THEN, on the rare occasion that we get a bacterial infection of some sort, we take a 7-10 day course of antibiotics prescribed by our treating physician, to help us defeat the infection.
Ethical livestock producers follow the same protocol. Animals are kept in bedded pens during inclement weather, and allowed to run outdoors in fair weather. If a sick animal arrives, it’s isolated in a separate hutch until infection-free…receiving antibiotics if fever is present, and electrolyte replacements to compensate for what’s lost by diarrhea. When well, the animal is introduced into the herd. The herd remains infection-free, because fences exclude contact with infected animals from elsewhere. Animals kept this way, are free of antibiotic residue when milked or slaughtered. Humans who eat the meat or dairy are assured that any antibiotics they take, were prescribed for them by their physician because they were ill.
Using antibiotics properly, fewer bacteria come into contact with them, therefore, the probability that a random mutation will cause a drug-resistant variety of bacteria to evolve, is minimized.
As Dr. Temple Grandin repeatedly points out, we humans do not have unlimited powers over the animal kingdom. When we do something gross, disgusting, and incredibly stupid, like medicate animals so they can lay in beds of their own crap without getting sicker, there are adverse consequences…like superbugs that resist antibiotics, and eat holes in people’s skin and muscles.
Because it’s easier to waste money on antibiotics than to do the shovel work of cleaning up after livestock, unethical livestock producers will continue to overuse antibiotics and Pharma companies will continue selling them what they buy. To fix this problem, we consumers need to demand that unethical livestock producers behave better.
Kudos to the Chipotle Mexican Grill fast-food chain, for refusing to buy meat that was raised in filthy beds of the animals’ own manure. We can buy their stock to show our appreciation… ticker symbol CMG on the New York Stock Exchange.
I never take antibiotics unless it’s a life-threatening situation.