The world could soon face a future without them - Bacteria on brink of victory

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In the war between bugs and drugs, bacteria are on the cusp of a crushing victory.

Barely 70 years after antibiotics were introduced, the World Health Organisation has warned that the world could soon face a future without them – and New Zealand experts back the dire prediction.

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In a World Health Day address, WHO director-general Margaret Chan said indiscriminate use of antibiotics has made bacterial infections increasingly resistant, with fewer and fewer antibiotics available to treat them.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e87d8fcff370.gif[/atsimg] - 1995
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5a06377b523c.jpg[/atsimg] - 2010

"The world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once again, kill unabated."

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Drug resistance was a natural process, but had been vastly accelerated by misuse, she said.

That included overuse, "sometimes to be on the safe side, sometimes in response to patient demand, but often for doctors and pharmacists to make more money"; underuse, when people did not complete a full course of antibiotics; and using the wrong type of antibiotic.

Dr Chan also criticised the massive routine use of antibiotics in industrialised food production, which accounts for half of all antibiotic use in some parts of the world. "The problem arises when drugs used for food production are medically important for human health, as ... pathogens that have developed resistance to drugs in animals can be transmitted to humans."

Attention had focused on hospital superbugs, such as MRSA, which kills tens of thousands of people each year, but the problem was much wider, Dr Chan said.

"In just the past year, nearly half a million people developed multidrug-resistant TB, and a third of them died as a result."

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Even diarrhoea and common respiratory infections would become harder to treat.

Mark Jones, a clinical microbiologist at Wellington Hospital, said the warning was not an overstatement, and antibiotics would be useless "in a relatively short time", both in developing and developed countries.

"We're going to have to advance to the stage where we die of infections – we've got to be prepared for those days to return."

Vigorous infection prevention by hospitals would offer some protection, but was costly. "In Britain they're talking about moving towards single rooms for all patients."

Wellington Hospital kept a register of patients with multidrug-resistant infections, with five or six patients a day closely monitored and kept in isolation.

Mark Peterson, chairman of the Medical Association's GP council, said the problem was getting worse in New Zealand, though doctors were now much more careful about how they prescribed antibiotics. "We've seen a significant reduction over the last 10 years in the number of antibiotic prescriptions given."

Prescriptions for amoxicillin clavulanate, a generic antibiotic, dropped from a peak of nearly 1.2 million in 1996 to 800,000 last year, despite the growing population.

Food producers needed to do their part, too. "We need to limit the routine use of antibiotics, particularly in agriculture."

Crown research institute Environmental Science and Research monitors drug resistance in New Zealand, while the Health Ministry provides guidance on antibiotic use, control of multidrug-resistant infections and routine infection control programmes.

What you can do??

- If you are prescribed antibiotics, complete the entire course, even if you're feeling better.

- If you have a viral infection, don't push your doctor for, or accept, antibiotics – they will have no effect.

- Practise good hygiene – including thorough hand-washing – to prevent the natural spread of bacteria.

- Avoid hospitals, rest homes, schools and other places if you are unwell.

- Encourage food producers to limit their use of antibiotics by buying organic food, especially meat.
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Source

Hmm...what if this is just a set-up...

for global population reduction?

They make placebo versions of "antibiotics" and then say "sorry, it doesn't seem to work".

Just a thought (my second one in the last five minutes. I'm on a roll).

This is the kind of stuff that scares me right out of my shoes.

I have never had the feeling that the world and mankind would come to an end as a result of a meteor or a vocanic eruption or nuclear war. I believe that man will be wiped out by the germ.

Just as humans and animals evolve, so does bacteria and disease. It has been mutating at a high rate while medicine has basically been stuck on the age old discovery of antibiotics and pennecillin, and as the OP states the disease will eventually find a way around these medicines and transform beyond our ability to cure them.

Imagine something as contagious and as deadly (or worse) than the bubonic plague tearing through modern cities, hundreds of millions dead.

We have been spoiled for the last several decades as modern medicine has found cures and kept pace with these potential outbreaks, but one day we will find ourselves entirely at the mercy of a killing machine that we do not have the ability to control.

It has happened before and it can easily happen again.

At least we don't have alien spaceships buried in the ground, otherwise this would spell instant doom for us.

As far as bacteria, I'm sure that we have more cures hidden away for profit that are locked in Pharmacutacle companies' vaults that would eliminate any new strains of virus. Medicine has become profit, and there is no profit if 2/3rds' of the population dies because of a rogue bacteria.

King

reply to post by BlackOps719


My thoughts exactly, I love ATS's ability to seek out those who know how to put your thoughts into words for ya

Originally posted by Kingalbrect79
At least we don't have alien spaceships buried in the ground, otherwise this would spell instant doom for us.

Are you sure about this?

As far as bacteria, I'm sure that we have more cures hidden away for profit that are locked in Pharmacutacle companies' vaults that would eliminate any new strains of virus. Medicine has become profit, and there is no profit if 2/3rds' of the population dies because of a rogue bacteria.

I'm sure the we also have actual Viruses locked in Pharmacutacle companies' vaults ready to be unleashed as part of a Population Reduction plot as someone mentioned above..
What happens when TSHTF and the monotary system is wiped away?? Who gets the blaim if its an 'Unstopable Worldwide Virus' ? no-one....

I wouldn't trust the drugs companies, and if you get a cold, diarrhea or flu (bugs which last no longer than a few days) fight them with meditation. Taking pills/medicine only diminishes the immune system. That said, there could be a new bug round the corner which nothing will defeat. According to the BBC this week Europe is losing the battle against New Delhi or NDM-1 superbug. Maybe this will be hyped up like swine flu, sales of placebos will sky rocket and the drugs companies will get ever richer

Add NDM1 to the list, but its worse than that.
because its a GENE!
They are finding this resistant gene in water and sewage in India.(New Delhi to be exact..(.hence the ND)
This gene for drug resistance has been found in two diseases s far but has the ability to get around to others too.
Diahreha sic and malaria of drug resistant strains , also TB from africa that drug resistant too.
Add to those PRIONS
PRIONS are folded protiens that act like viruses. but because thay arent alive in the same sense, are harder to kill.
They have gone un noticed through autoclaves to be sppread by using sterilised surgical instruments which retained the infectious prions because they are much more indestructablle.
Prions require very much higher temps to die.
(far too high)
Thus the worlds surgical instruments have been infecting people with prions for ever.
One causes the mad cow disease that we know of, there may be many other too.

reply to post by grindhouzer


Honestly man, I coudn't tell you who to blame because if a major outbreak of global proportions happened, there probably wouldn't be many people left to complain too that could do anything about it.

The funny thing is that this planet has everything we need to balance out all natural diseases, but because we manufacture diseases as a weapon and then some power hungry politician tries it out in a third world country as a test fire, we end up releasing a lab-created virus on a world that wasn't meant to be healed. When these mutate they out reach the vaccines that we know are created for the original strains.

I gave up worrying about surviving apocalyptic events, I only worry about surviving them.

King

Originally posted by Kingalbrect79
reply to post by grindhouzer

 

I gave up worrying about surviving apocalyptic events, I only worry about surviving them.

King

Um.....typo...or?

Good.. Someone named Grind houser with an Avitar of Zombies... is spreading Bacteria Doom....

I guess as this is a doomless month (not)..... We need more gratuitous doom.

According to this article in CBC News says that anti-bacterial products are killing of ALL bacteria, even the beneficial ones...

The researchers were concerned about the disappearance of Bradyrhizobium because it is a nitrogen-fixing species — that is, it makes the nutrient nitrogen available in a form that plants can use.

AND the researches think the killing of good bacteria is not a good thing.

"We wonder about the impact to biogeochemical cycles...

According to another article I found on Science Clarified

Bacteria make possible the digestion of foods in many kinds of animals. Cows, deer, sheep, and other ruminants, for example, have a large organ known as the rumen in which bacteria live and help break down cellulose fibers and other tough plant materials. In humans, bacteria known as Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) occur everywhere in the digestive system, aiding in the breakdown of many kinds of foods. Bacteria are also responsible for the production of vitamin K and certain B vitamins. Certain kinds of bacteria are also essential in the decay and decomposition of waste materials. Such bacteria are known as decomposers. Decomposers attack dead materials and break them down into simpler forms that can be used as nutrients by plants. Finally, bacteria are involved in the production of many foods eaten humans. For example, bacteria that cause milk to become sour are used in the production of cottage cheese, buttermilk, and yogurt. Vinegar and sauerkraut are also produced by the action of bacteria on ethyl alcohol and cabbage, respectively.

Even "bad bacteria" is something we need. Although too much of anything is bad, but we need them nonetheless...

Some forms of dangerous bacteria live on the human skin, but cause no harm unless they are able to enter the blood stream through a break in the skin. Among these bacteria is Staphylococcus , responsible for the potentially fatal toxic shock syndrome. And although E. coli is helpful within the digestive system, if it is ingested and enters the bloodstream it causes severe cramping, diarrhea, and possibly even death.

Did you read that? We need E-Coli even!
At the Bacteria Museum they say

Bacterial infections have always existed, and all organisms that can become infected have learned to deal with them. Plants have primitive defenses against bacteria by producing toxic substances. Higher animals and humans fight a bacterial infection with a more specific immune system.

Yes, we may get infected and sometimes, depending on our health we may even need medication to help get better, but we are cheating ourselves, our bodies if we don't let our immune systems try. If ALL bacteria were killed, what would happen the next time a space flight lands or a meteor doesn't burn up upon entry? No bacteria for our immune system to fight means we're helpless.

How can we live in a world without bacteria and expect to survive?

Originally posted by stirling.................
Add to those PRIONS
PRIONS are folded protiens that act like viruses. but because thay arent alive in the same sense, are harder to kill.
They have gone un noticed through autoclaves to be sppread by using sterilised surgical instruments which retained the infectious prions because they are much more indestructablle.
Prions require very much higher temps to die.
(far too high)
Thus the worlds surgical instruments have been infecting people with prions for ever.
One causes the mad cow disease that we know of, there may be many other too.

I had my blood checked a while ago. I asked her if it was a new needle and she said something like "Ya it's ok." Do you know if they always use new needles when taking a blood sample?

Supermarket chicken harbours superbugs: CBC

www.cbc.ca...

www.cbc.ca...

The sampling results revealed that common illness-causing bacteria had turned into superbugs that are increasingly resistant to the usual treatment protocols.

How did these bacteria become superbugs? Doctors and scientists told Marketplace co-host Erica Johnson that chicken farmers are overusing antibiotics — routinely giving healthy flocks doses of amoxicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin and ceftiofur to prevent disease and to make the chickens grow bigger, faster.

reply to post by jonnywhite

Do you know if they always use new needles when taking a blood sample?

always!

except in some 3rd world countries in which needles are reused. One of the prime spreaders of HIV and hepatitis in some countries

Originally posted by jonnywhite

Originally posted by stirling.................
Add to those PRIONS
PRIONS are folded protiens that act like viruses. but because thay arent alive in the same sense, are harder to kill.
They have gone un noticed through autoclaves to be sppread by using sterilised surgical instruments which retained the infectious prions because they are much more indestructablle.
Prions require very much higher temps to die.
(far too high)
Thus the worlds surgical instruments have been infecting people with prions for ever.
One causes the mad cow disease that we know of, there may be many other too.

I had my blood checked a while ago. I asked her if it was a new needle and she said something like "Ya it's ok." Do you know if they always use new needles when taking a blood sample?

edit on 9-4-2011 by jonnywhite because: (no reason given)

reply to post by notsofunnyguy


I've never understood the whole population control issue, though that's for another thread/day/etc.

As I put in an actual post:

business2press.com...

THIS is very, very interesting. It's time that we not only think about biology when it coems to stuff like this, but Physics as well...IMHO.