New Report Reveals Link Between Bladder Infections and Overuse of Antibiotics in Chicken

[marmar]

from Civil Eats:


New Report Reveals Link Between Bladder Infections and Overuse of Antibiotics in Chicken

July 11th, 2012
By Paula Crossfield


Bladder inflections affect 60 percent of all American women, with a rising number resistant to antibiotic treatment. Now researchers looking into the cause of the mysterious drug resistance have found evidence that it’s coming from poultry treated with antibiotics, according to a joint investigation by the Food & Environment Reporting Network and ABC News.

The investigation, which aired on ABC’s Good Morning America, highlights how the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture has made it more difficult to treat these painful, long lasting, and recurring infections because one course of antibiotics no longer works. The cost of treating the disease is estimated at $1 billion annually.

“A growing number of medical researchers say more than 8 million women are at risk of difficult-to-treat bladder infections because superbugs–resistant to antibiotics and growing in chickens–are being transmitted to humans in the form of E. coli,” writes ABC Senior National Correspondent Jim Avila.

FERNnews Reporter Maryn McKenna looked into the studies, which revealed the link between human illness and the overuse of antibiotics in food animals. Amee Mangus, epidemiologist at McGill University, found that the E.Coli responsible for bladder infections closely matches the bacteria found in retail chicken—and those bacteria have a high level of resistance. “We’re particularly interested in chickens,” she said. “They in many cases are getting drugs from the time that they were in an egg all the way up to the time that they are slaughtered.” McKenna goes into more detail in a story that appears here on TheAtlantic.com. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2012/07/11/fernabc-report-reveals-link-between-bladder-infections-and-overuse-of-antibiotics-in-chicken/

[Ilsa]

1. I'm wondering if we are also developing

allergic reactions or drug sensitivity to certain antibiotics because of overexposure through their use in farm animals.

Does anyone know which type of antibiotic is used on the majority of chickens?

On edit: I think I found my best answer by googling "poultry farming". It's a fluoroquinolone antibiotic.

[kestrel91316]

2. We never figured out why I turned up with a life-threatening allergy to

sulfonamides in 1986, since I had never been prescribed them. I have always believed that exposure via factory-farmed meat could have been how I got sensitized, since sulfonamides are used a lot in livestock.

[Marrah_G]

3. I recently went into Anaphalaxis (sp?) shock from a Sulphur antibiotics

That is after a crippling reaction to a Quinilone based antibiotic.

Recently I was hospitalized for 4 days for an infection (they never quite figured out what caused it) and they had to treat it with amoxacilan (sp?)

[kestrel91316]

4. If you've had one bad allergic reaction to a medication you have to be real

careful about any other meds for a while at least because your immune system gets all "hot and bothered" and needs time to settle down. Shortly after my reaction to sulfa drugs I had a nasty reaction to metronidazole, but with that is was more acute and they recognized it quickly and a couple of injections of epinephrine did the trick. With azulfadine I developed serum sickness after about a week (rather than anaphylaxis).

[Marrah_G]

5. Yup the docs are really careful now

It's one of the reasons I spent 4 days in the hospital where they could monitor things closely.

I'm really fortunate to have an awesome doctor who genuinely listens and cares.

My quinilone reaction was to Cipro where I had a reaction of Peripheral neuropathy in all 4 limbs that left me unable to move them for a bit with lasting nerve damage.

I had never been allergic to anything in my life until this time.

[Ilsa]

6. Probably amoxicillin plus clavulanate.

Sometimes called Augmentin, it is a penicillin related antibiotic plus a beta-lactamase inhibitor to help prevent the bacteria from mutating, IIRC.

Infections are becoming very scary business now. And it is amazing that you had to be hospitalized for 4 days. Most surgical patients are out in less time.

[Ilsa]

7. I had to stop treatment on myself with a

Sulfonamide drug recently because of a mild allergic reaction. I had become sensitive to it, but I rarely have needed antibiotics.