"Super Bug" on the offensive... a new article

Two weeks ago, I posted a link revealing a drug resistant "Super Bug" in LA nursing homes:

www.abovetopsecret.com

This evening, I do my typical browsing of the news and come across this gem:

Link here

Misuse of antibiotics has led to a global health threat: the rise of dangerous—or even fatal—superbugs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is now attacking both patients in hospitals and also in the community and a deadly new multi-drug resistant bacteria called carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP is now in the headlines.

According to the link, this 'bug' has a one in three chance of being fatal. The only way to combat it is to, in general, prescribe fewer antibiotics because the over-prescribing of these antibiotics has created these deadly strains. The only antibiotic available will destroy your kidneys. So basically it sounds like we are screwed either way. Are there any medical professionals in the ATS community that can shed some light (if any) on the possibilities of the potential for a pandemic?

This sounds bad.

Already signs of our demise.

Good thing I rarely take antibiotics. I don't know which is worse in situations like this.....the threat of losing millions to a pandemic or the problem of finding a place to dispose of millions of bodies at once.

Well I must not be very good at this ATS thing. Two relevant articles that get back burner attention in the MSM, and nobody on ATS seems to care. I apologize if something that can produce symptoms like those of AIDS, and can be spread through daily person to person contact, and is susceptible to mutation to become even more resistant to drugs, does not seem to be news.

These are the things that puzzle me the most on ATS. This seems like a story of genuine concern yet there will be articles regarding alien DNA found in the tomb of Jim Morrison which will garner 300 +/- flags. Once again, sorry for giving a crap.

:-p

reply to post by JohnD


No one cares because they can't blame it on the government.

But Im sure someone will try.

I am NOT an expert, but I am a student of microbiology and soon to graduate, so I believe I can offer at least some substance to this thread.

While there's no doubt that the emergence and spread of CRPK is bad news, it's not really anything I'm all that worried about and it's not really something that the average, healthy individual should be worried about at this point either:

Pandemic Concerns
Klebsiella pneumoniae is mostly an opportunistic pathogen, which is to say that it only tends to cause significant disease in immunocompromised individuals. That is to say, it generally only tends to cause problems in the elderly and infants, patients on immunosuppressive therapy (IE: cancer chemotherapy/radiation, transplant patients, Rheumatoid arthritis patients, etc.), those with immunosuppressive diseases (HIV/AIDS, many blood cancers, etc), and others with weakened immune systems (a small portion of the American population).

Conversely, there is very little chance of K. pneumoniae causing disease in most healthy adults or older children. Simply following normal hygiene practices should be sufficient even if you come in contact with someone who has a K. pneumoniae infection.

Colistin Treatment/Side Effects
Having taken a look at a couple of scientific journal articles on the colistin nephrotoxicity, it's clear that the drug by no means "kills your kidneys". While it is true that there is some level of acute nephrotoxicity in 10% to 20% of patients being treated with the drug, these are nearly universally temporary effects. As long as someone is being treated by competent medical professionals, the dangers are not worse than many other 'last resort' drugs for all sorts of conditions.

Antibiotic Resistance
The article is correct. Our pill-popping culture and over-use of antibiotics has lead to huge problems with antibiotic resistance developing and it'y likely only a matter of time until these problems get far, far worse. The really resistant bugs right now are often opportunistic infections, but if something more severe became highly-resistant, we'd have quite the mess to deal.

reply to post by AndyMack


I appreciate your reply.

I try to come here to look for answers. Not to claim "I am smarter than anyone here and the grays DID give Elvis an anal probe and that is REALLY why he died!" I do think that as a whole, society is becoming a bit more wimpy (i.e. football on X-Box instead of in the yard) and that cannot help but enable communicable diseases to have some kind of field day with our mortality.


Peace.