Antibiotic Resistance

[sunny-dave]

There was a (rather muddled) thread on this in CB - but I think it's worthy of a proper discussion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28098838

Which rock has DC been living under??

The problem of antibiotic resistance and the paucity of new drugs has been widely reported for years and years - perhaps we need some more Science graduates in Government and a few less 'Arts&Politics' wonks.

By and large the disaster of resistance hasn't been caused by 'First World' patients not finishing antibiotic courses - that is a problem, but not the crucial one.

The main disaster area is indiscriminate use in people (and even more so in animals) in the under-developed world. Unregulated dispensing and over-use of antibiotic drugs is endemic in India, SE Asia and most of Africa. The concept of "only dispense when properly indicated and always finish the course" is a pipe-dream.

There's a strong argument which says that "if" (not when) we get some new AB drugs we shouldn't even consider letting them be used those areas, because they will abuse them and render them useless in no time at all.

Now there's a moral dilemma for you ...

[Sqad]

What a good post by sunny-dave.

The use and abuse of antibiotics have been discussed for the past 50 years and yet we have learnt very little.

I do not blame GP's for overprescribing antibiotics as they have been pressurised by ill informed patients and nurses.

Just read some of the posts in Body and Soul, posters are "baying" for the use of antibiotics and one poster posted "infection =antibiotics" and this is utter nonsense but jumped upon by the uninformed.

We also have a system now where nurses can prescribe antibiotics without patients being seen by a doctor.........this being total madness.

The "pigeons will finally come home to roost."

[dannyk13]

"Infection=antibiotics and this is utter nonsense". I have suffered wth C OPD for a long time and as a result I get frequent infections.What do you suggest instead of antibiotics Sqad?

[wolf63]

Finish the course - my little ones, when they need antibiotics, are given a jab from the vet which covers them for a week or so. Would this work on lesser species like humans?

[Old_Geezer]

Sooner or later any bacterium is going to evolve resistance though. Antibiotics seem to be a stop-gap solution until one finds something better. There was a woman was on morning TV today suggesting there is not enough profit in developing replacements though. Not sure I believe it, but if so, what better indication could there be that society can not rely on profit seekers to create what society needs. It seems to me this needs to be funded by publicly employed scientists in government labs working on what's needed rather than what's profitable.

[jno]

if (not when) we get some new AB drugs

AB drugs sounds good. Gnomeweed?

[ToraToraTora]

sqad: "I do not blame GP's ........" - that's a policy shift!

[Sqad]

TTT.....I tell it how I see it.....my criticism of GP's has been, not of them, but as the role they play in the NHS...........which is misplaced in my opinion.

[mikey4444]

Sqad...interesting discussion on this topic on the Today Program this morning. Not sure if you can get R4 in Sunny Spain, but I can't imagine life without it nowadays.

[sunny-dave]

Thanks Mikey - I missed the Today discussion - will have a listen later.

[237SJ]

In Bangkok you can walk into any back street chemist or the Boots that they have there and buy antibiotics from unqualified persons who will just hand them over with no questions asked. It stands to reason (with the mass transit of people and their associated bugs these days) that bacteria will become resistant. The WHO needs to get onto it and whilst they are at it, they can do something about all of the unnecessary agents (Triclosan etc) that are in antibacterial cleansing products.