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We will soon be in a Post-antibiotics era.


Aggie

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just published a

first-of-its-kind assessmentof the threat the country faces from antibiotic-resistant organisms, ranking them by the number of illnesses and deaths they cause each year and outlining urgent steps that need to be taken to roll back the trend.

The agency’s overall — and, it stressed, conservative — assessment of the problem:

  • Each year, in the U.S., 2,049,442 illnesses caused by bacteria and fungi that are resistant to at least some classes of antibiotics;
  • Each year, out of those illnesses, 23,000 deaths;
  • Because of those illnesses and deaths, $20 billion each year in additional healthcare spending;
  • And beyond the direct healthcare costs, an additional $35 billion lost to society in foregone productivity.

“If we are not careful, we will soon be in a post-antibiotic era,” Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC’s director, said in a media briefing. “And for some patients and for some microbes, we are already there.”

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THat, dear idiots of humanity, is why you don't take antibiotics when you have a ******* cold.

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THat, dear idiots of humanity, is why you don't take antibiotics when you have a ******* cold.

Thank you, I have been saying this for years too. People are ignorant, they don't understand that antibiotics won't kill viruses, only bacteria.

Many seriously abuse medicines.

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There exists incredible ignorance regarding the proper use of antibiotics. Also, we need to keep in mind that bacteria are very, very good at survival...they will inevitably develop resistance to whatever we throw at them. There needs to be research and development of new medications, it's our only viable option.

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It was revolutionary and thus was abused by the masses. Now Viruses are evolving fasting than we can develop a new way for treating them.

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I was having this discussion with some coworkers yesterday. People definitely should use more caution when using antibiotics, but on that note I wonder if some of that blame can be shifted towards the pharmaceutical industry. It's no secret they have their own agenda to push drug sales as much as possible, which I'm sure means they helped fan the flames we are now dealing with. I wonder how many times a doctor was sitting with a sick patient who could have gotten away with chicken soup but is instead prescribed juggernaut drugs because of a nice incentive?

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This should motivate everyone to be healthier. Cause the antibotics won't save you soon

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This should motivate everyone to be healthier. Cause the antibotics won't save you soon

It should, but it won't.

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It should, but it won't.

Thin the herd a bit?

In the words of Bill Burr:

Put on a sweater, take some vitamins, you'll be fine... disease is nature's forest fire just let it burn out all the dead wood!

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This should motivate everyone to be healthier. Cause the antibotics won't save you soon

Yes, you are right and what you say applies to medicines, cause people nowadays they just take medicines to stop the symptoms instead of curing the cause.

We need to let the body create its own antibodies to kill pathogens (viruses or bacteria): our bodies are extremelly clever, once an antibody is created, certain cells memorise it and if there is a new 'attack' we can create antibodies immediately, sometimes without even getting any symptoms. By doing this our bodies get stronger which is exactly the opposite that happens when you take antibiotics immediately: your body gets weaker as it forgets how to defend itself and the pathogen gets stronger.

Edited by Aggie
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just published a first-of-its-kind assessmentof the threat the country faces from antibiotic-resistant organisms, ranking them by the number of illnesses and deaths they cause each year and outlining urgent steps that need to be taken to roll back the trend.

The agency’s overall — and, it stressed, conservative — assessment of the problem:

  • Each year, in the U.S., 2,049,442 illnesses caused by bacteria and fungi that are resistant to at least some classes of antibiotics;
  • Each year, out of those illnesses, 23,000 deaths;
  • Because of those illnesses and deaths, $20 billion each year in additional healthcare spending;
  • And beyond the direct healthcare costs, an additional $35 billion lost to society in foregone productivity.

“If we are not careful, we will soon be in a post-antibiotic era,” Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC’s director, said in a media briefing. “And for some patients and for some microbes, we are already there.”

http://www.wired.com...9/cdc-amr-rpt1/

In terms of evolution antibiotics are just an ephemeral drop in the ocean in terms of the survival of organisms on Earth. In the bigger scheme of things, when exposed to infection, organisms will either succombe or survive and those which survive will have a certain immunity - a sort of resistance to bacteria, viruses etc so that, in a way the tables are turned.

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It was revolutionary and thus was abused by the masses. Now Viruses are evolving fasting than we can develop a new way for treating them.

Bacteria are sensitive to antibiotics. Viruses are not. There are anti-viral medications (ex, Acyclovir) but these medications aren't antibiotics.

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I was having this discussion with some coworkers yesterday. People definitely should use more caution when using antibiotics, but on that note I wonder if some of that blame can be shifted towards the pharmaceutical industry. It's no secret they have their own agenda to push drug sales as much as possible, which I'm sure means they helped fan the flames we are now dealing with. I wonder how many times a doctor was sitting with a sick patient who could have gotten away with chicken soup but is instead prescribed juggernaut drugs because of a nice incentive?

When I was in school I worked on a project for the health department to determine pediatric antibiotic use. We were all horrified to find that not only were antibiotics being overprescribed, but that the most commonly prescribed ones were far from first line antibiotics. Luckily it changed after the study and now pediatricians are required to try if possible first line defenders like amoxicillin and erythromycin before moving on if necessary. I think now the big problem is urgent care centers. Every time I have ever gone to one they are trying to give me some crazy antibiotic without confirming anything is wrong or for a UTI. At least I know enough to not just go along with them, but most people don't. I think the health department should step in again and look at the urgent care centers.

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Well, part of the problem is our adding antibiotics to everything in the US. The antibiotic dish washing detergents, hand soaps, etc. Then too, I believe we're the only developed country that still allows farmers to add antibiotics to the feed of cattle, chickens, and hogs, resulting in antibiotic resistance in the people who eat this meat. But it isn't all us either. In a lot of countries, antibiotics are available to anyone and many of the people use them the way we use aspirin.

Diseases becoming antibiotic resistant have been moving in this direction for a long time. A lot of people have been warning about it and it's good to see it's finally getting some attention.

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It's odd that all those antibiotics are in the US environment yet to get a prescription for one is so hard. In Vietnam we go down to the pharmacist and he grills us about symptoms and then gives you the appropriate antibiotic if necessary, not if otherwise. I think it leads to better overall health in the population, but of course medical doctors lose a lot of business from a US-type arrangement, so they constantly thump how dangerous it supposedly is. It's really about freedom, which is taken away in many situations by special interests in the States.

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Consider that wide spectrum antibiotics are just as harmfull to your healthy active bacteria as the bad bacteria you are trying to rid your system of. Personally I've haven't taken anti biotics in many years so my advice to any one that feels they have to take them, back your system(s) up with a serious dose of natural pro biotics that are now avaible in a wide range of applications.

There are many alternatives to the present medical systems in place and thanks to the internet its becoming easier and easier to care for yourself and family without having to rely on or trust all the drug dealing doctors who care as much about your well being as what their having for lunch.

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OH DEARIE ME. What alternatives if you have a serious infection? Without antibiotics there are several times in my life I would have died. If the bugs become truly resistant, that is another way to have civilization if not the species disappear.

More antibiotics will be found; more important the mechanisms of resistance are being studied and ways to defeat them may appear.

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