Use of Antibiotics

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For a long time I have been concerned about antibiotic usage. I have written several papers in undergrad and during this MPH course that discuss the usage of antibiotics and how it is actually potentially making people sicker and also how we could be return to an era of no antibiotics. Could you imagine? Things like cuts and scratches could get infected and there would be no way to cure them. Things like Strep throat would have no cure. Sexually transmitted infections would no longer have a cure and they could potentially devastate populations. Diseases like the bubonic plague could return and there would be nothing to stop the spread. As a society we need to be carefully about when and how we use antibiotics otherwise we will back ourselves into a corner with no way to get out.

 Antibiotic Resistance 101:
This paper thoroughly discusses how factory farms are giving antibiotics to livestock. Why are large-scale factories doing this?  Because they are housing large masses of animals in inhumane ways causing them to get sick. Instead of treating the animals right they give them antibiotics. The result? The antibiotics are no longer working on the livestock and the resistance is being passed on to humans. 

 Article of ABX resistance:
This article discusses the reality of large groups of livestock and their risk of having MRSA and passing it on to people. The odds of livestock having MRSA if kept in large compounds with cramped quarters increases to 77%. 

 Blog on antimicrobial soaps:
This article in Scientific American basically says that most people who use antibiotic soap are no healthier than those who use normal soap and hose individuals who are chronically sick and use antibiotic soap appear to get sicker.

 Antimicrobials and Hospital Furnishing 
Hospitals are not being furnished with items that have antimicrobials properties. This is done in the hopes to stop the spread of hospital-acquired infections. Is this working? The exact opposite is happening and this furniture is now adding to the crisis and making bacteria strands more resistance to antibiotics. 


  

Comments

  1. Jordan DemosOctober 6, 2018 at 8:05 PM

    Caitlin,

    It is so scary to think of a future world where bacteria are resistant to all known antibiotics. It seems like we as humans continue to be reactionary instead of preventative. There are so many examples of this country where we spends loads of money reacting to problems we could have spent less money on preventing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 7, 2018 at 10:38 PM

    Hi Caitlin,

    It is crazy to think of the implications antibiotic resistance can have on us as these practices continue. With all of our science and technology, the politics and big businesses behind these things continue to put us all at risk.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousOctober 7, 2018 at 11:13 PM

    Such a bleak picture. I remember growing up in Tibet and they gave antibiotic to people like pain killers, only recently did I realize, how wrong that was. I don't even think we were properly instructed to take the medicine and folks often didn't finish their dosage. It's crazy

    ReplyDelete

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