Last-line antibiotics losing ability to kill superbugs in EU

[FarCenter]

(Reuters) - Europe faces a growing threat from superbugs that are resistant to a powerful, last-resort class of antibiotics known as carbapenems, the EU's disease monitoring agency said on Friday.

...

The proportion of infections resistant to carbapenems has increased sharply in the last four years - particularly in southern Europe - and almost all European countries now have reported cases, the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control (ECDC) said.

The most severe cases involve bloodstream infections, but drug-resistant bugs can also more frequently cause serious problems in the respiratory and urinary tracts.

The ECDC data showed that the proportion of bloodstream infections due to Klebsiella pneumoniae, a common cause of illness in hospital patients, that were resistant to carbapenems was above 5 percent in 2012 in five countries - Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Romania and Slovakia.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/15/us-europe-antibiotics-idUSBRE9AE0L620131115

[Sheri]

1. antibiotics are used and abused.

i've seen too many parents and doctors put their kids on anit-biotics for a common cold. it's really tragic to waste scientific knowledge like that. the use of anti-biotics ought to be much more rare so we don't create super-bugs.

[bvar22]

8. Its not just the doctors and parents.

We are exposed to anti-biotics, hormones, steroids, and other drugs through the factory-food delivery systems, and drinking water in some areas.

If you use compost from an outside source like a big farm, or a municipal pile of "Free Compost" ( especially at a University with an Ag Program),...beware.

[Katashi_itto]

2. Darwinism at work. We are making our own "Captain Trips" Superbug.

[bvar22]

7. Bonus Points for "Captain Trips" reference.

The Walking Dude cometh.

[ck4829]

3. Phage therapy, it's time to start using it

Using viruses to kill infectious bacteria that specifically go after the species, including antibiotic resistant ones, and it evolves faster than the bacteria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phage_therapy

[Voice for Peace]

4. interesting, thanks! I haven't heard of this till now

but the concept has always made sense.

Sort of off-topic, but not really: I don't know if you
have watched the series "Derek" but there's a scene
where he is trying to figure out what would happen
if you gave aids to rabies: which would win?



they're cute, too

[jeff47]

6. It will eventually lead to the same problem

Eventually, strains of bacteria will develop that are immune to the viruses involved. Leading to switches to new viruses, to which bacteria may then evolve resistance, and so on.

Don't get me wrong. It would be a great help for a very long time, just like antibiotics have been. And it'll probably be what we have to start using to treat MRSA.

But there isn't a good way to make viruses evolve around that resistance. Bacteria can be cultured in a "sub-toxic" environment to develop resistance to a chemical. You can't really do the same thing with a virus, since it relies on the bacteria to replicate.

So it's likely that we'd eventually end up with a bacteria resistant to all available phage therapy. On the plus side, it would probably take about as long as it's taken for antibiotic resistance to be a large problem, so by the time it happens we'll probably be able to engineer our own viruses.

[jeff47]

5. Some simple things we all can do to help

1) Don't demand antibiotics for every illness. They won't cure the flu or the common cold. But each time you take them, you create the opportunity for new antibiotic resistance to evolve.

2) When you are prescribed antibiotics, take them as long as directed. Do not stop when you are feeling better.

You will feel better before you have completely cured the infection. So if you stop the antibiotics at that time, there's bacteria that are still alive. Since they've been exposed to, but not killed by, the antibiotic they are more likely to evolve resistance.

3) Use basic first aid whenever you get a cut or scrape - wash the cut, treat it with an antiseptic and use a bandage at least until it's well clotted. This helps prevent infection, which may then have to be treated by antibiotics.