Could antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" become a bigger killer than cancer?

[riversedge]

I really believe we--all of us--are in deep trouble.





Could antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" become a bigger killer than cancer?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/could-antibiotic-resistant-superbugs-become-a-bigger-killer-than-cancer-60-minutes-2019-04-21/







Antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives. But their continued, widespread use has led to mutated bacteria that are resistant to these drugs

2019 Apr 21

When antibiotics were first used in the 1940s they were a revolution in medicine. Before that, diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis were often a death sentence, and even an infected scratch could be fatal. Since then, antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives. But now many of these drugs are becoming ineffective.

Scientists say it's a problem of our own making. We've used antibiotics so freely, some bacteria have mutated into so-called "superbugs." They've become resistant to the very drugs designed to kill them. A study commissioned by the British government estimates that by 2050, 10 million people worldwide could die each year from antibiotic resistant bacteria. That's more than currently die from cancer. To understand the danger posed by superbugs, we start with the story of David Ricci...........................................

[mr_lebowski]

4. wow, that sounds freaky as hell!

Glad it worked SF! Phew!

[SharonAnn]

7. Yes, absolutely. A pandemic can kill billions of people.

[applegrove]

2. If we run out of antibiotics many types of surgery and chemotherapy

Last edited Tue Apr 30, 2019, 11:19 PM - Edit history (2)

Will not happen. They need anti-biotics that work to be successful.
Maybe that is why the pharmaceutical industry is test driving driving the cost of some drugs up to unaffordable heights? So that in the future antibiotics that do work can be hoarded by only those who can afford them. So that mass use will not result in bacteria developing immunity to newer antibiotics as it does now. So we are all paying for cancer research that only the rich will be able to afford in 30 years antibiotics will be so expensive. okay I'm a little dark. But upping the cost of drugs is something drug companies are starting to do. And then not others. Like we are in training for something.

[TrogL]

3. MRSA is rampant at the local hospitals

[csziggy]

9. Once in the past I tested positive for MRSA

The hospital put all sorts of warnings up and everyone who came in the room dressed in full container outfits - special gowns, gloves, masks, etc even though when they re-tested after my operation I came back negative.

My back surgery a few weeks ago was my first stay at the same hospital again and they did the same thing even though this time I tested negative for MRSA from the start. My two stays at the other hospital in town in between showed me that they also took stringent and routine precautions against infections such as MRSA.

I really don't mind the extra precautions since it protects the other patients, me, and the staff from possible exposure. I'm lucky in that I have great insurance so the extra cost does not come back to bite me. And I am glad to see the local hospitals taking those precautions to prevent the spread of MRSA!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. Possibly.

This has been a problem that has been building for decades.

At the root are the patients who demand antibiotics for every little thing, and the doctors who prescribe them.

For the most part the human body is incredibly resistant and able to resist and overcome an awful lot. When it can't, things like antibiotics are a genuine miracle drug. When my oldest son, now 36, was a baby, we had a family doctor who'd done his training shortly after WWII, and was still, in the mid-80s, in genuine awe of the wonderfulness of antibiotics. But they've been overused and we are now paying the price.

If fewer than 10 million people a year (out of a world population of nearly 8 billion) die from cancer, that statistic makes me think cancer isn't all that much of a threat. That's something like one tenth of one percent. Although, to be fair, different causes of death do add up.

Here's a question I can't quite figure out the answer to:
Are we in more danger from a virulent, highly contagious disease that kills quickly, like Ebola, or from a highly contagious disease that takes a very long time to kill, like AIDS? It's something I think about, and haven't come to a definitive conclusion. I know the typical apocalyptic scenario is a fast-acting, highly virulent, extremely deadly disease that kills millions and millions, maybe even billions in short order. I wonder if a stealthier disease, that is slow to act while infecting vast numbers of people wouldn't in the long run be worse.

You can tell I read too many such novels.

[SharonAnn]

8. I've read that 80%+ of antibiotics go into animal feed.

[Aristus]

6. Here's what you can do to help combat the problem in however small a way:

When you have a little sniffle, don't go to your doctor and demand antibiotics. The common cold is a virus, which antibiotics won't cure. I still get patients in who have a little cough and want a Z-pac for it. I give them medication to treat their symptoms and tell them their immune systems will make them better with rest and plenty of water. Go home.

Yes, I know that roughly 70% of the antibiotic resistance problem is due to the use of antibiotics in animal feed at factory farms.

But we can all do our bit.