We’re Aiding The Enemy
It bears repeating – it’s not a question of IF a germ will become resistant to antibiotics, it a matter of WHEN the germ will become antibiotic resistant.
And we’re helping their resistance movement. Oh yes, I’m afraid we’re guilty of aiding and abetting the enemy in many ways!
The major flawed battle strategy we’re using in our war with germs is deploying the main weapon in our arsenal, antibiotics, far too frequently. We’ve been overconfident that antibiotics will always do the job, and have used them unwisely.
One of the major ways (but not the only way!) we’ve overused our antibiotic weaponry, thereby speeding up the mutations of bacteria, is in the search for better healthcare.
Flawed Thinking – Antibiotics For Every Illness Equals Better Healthcare
Antibiotics have been way over-prescribed, and don’t blame it all on the doctors. People go to the doctor expecting a quick fix for their illness, even if all it needs is a little time to get better, NOT an antibiotic. Since doctors thought the miracle cures of antibiotics would always work, there wasn’t any need to refrain from using them. In the mind of both patients and doctors, better healthcare equaled the use of antibiotics. Frequently.
However, antibiotics aren’t always useful. If a person has a cold, or some other viral infection, antibiotics will not help. Taking them may make a person think they feel better, but it doesn’t actually do anything to kill the infection.
What taking an antibiotic unnecessarily does do is kill off any resident bacteria sensitive to the antibiotic used, except of course, any that are mutated to be resistant to that particular antibiotic. And we know where that eventually leads!
Hospitals Can Make You Sick
Sometimes hospitals are a bad place to be. The incidence of hospital acquired infections is growing. It just makes sense. Where do the sickest people go for help? Where do you suppose antibiotics are used the most?
It has come to the point that about 70 percent of bacteria that cause infections in hospitals are resistant to at least one of the drugs most commonly used to treat infections. Some organisms are resistant to all approved antibiotics and must be treated with experimental and potentially toxic drugs.
Hospitals can be breeding grounds for the worst sort of microbes. They’re the training camp for the elite forces of killer germs.
The Flip Side – Getting Kicked Out Of The Hospital Too Soon
Where once certain illnesses, surgeries and other procedures would have meant a lengthy hospital stay, patients are being booted out of the hospital sooner and sooner. This means sicker people are coming back into the community instead of staying in the hospital until they’re well.
Many of them will be on antibiotics, either for an active infection, or as a preventative measure. Some of them may have a hospital acquired infection they don’t even realize they’ve got until they’ve been home a day or two, and then be put on antibiotics.
As pointed out earlier, those hospital acquired infections are more likely to be from antibiotic resistant germs. So not only do the people who needed to go to the hospital get them, but if they get out in the community while they have the infection, they can spread it to others.
Too Many Antibiotic Prescriptions Does NOT Equal Better Healthcare
Germs take the job of procreation very seriously, so the numbers of antibiotic resistant bacteria are growing quickly. The bottom line is there have been too many people taking antibiotics that didn’t need them, thus speeding up the process of killing off the germs that are NOT resistant, while allowing the ones that are to flourish.
Our flawed strategies for germ warfare are hastening the day when antibiotics will no longer work.
FDA Consumer Magazine, Sept. 1995
www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/
www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/anti_resist.html
www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialresistance/
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in antimicrobial resistance. The Journal of Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.1086/533451
Nutrition Action Health Letter, October 2008
