The Post-Antibiotic Era Spreads Through Overuse Of Drugs, Poor Hygiene & Public Health Systems

[hatrack]

EDIT

Poor hygiene has spread resistant germs into India’s drains, sewers and drinking water, putting millions at risk of drug-defying infections. Antibiotic residues from drug manufacturing, livestock treatment and medical waste have entered water and sanitation systems, exacerbating the problem. As the superbacteria take up residence in hospitals, they’re compromising patient care and tarnishing India’s image as a medical tourism destination.

“There isn’t anything you could take with you traveling that would be useful against these superbugs,” says Robert Moellering Jr., a professor of medical research at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The germs -- and the gene that confers their heightened powers -- are jumping beyond India. More than 40 countries have discovered the genetically altered superbugs in blood, urine and other patient specimens. Canada, France, Italy, Kosovo and South Africa have found them in people with no travel links, suggesting the bugs have taken hold there.
Post-Antibiotic Era

Drug resistance of all sorts is bringing the planet closer to what the World Health Organization calls a post-antibiotic era. “Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said at a March medical meeting in Copenhagen. “Hip replacements, organ transplants, cancer chemotherapy and care of preterm infants would become far more difficult or even too dangerous to undertake.”

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-07/drug-defying-germs-from-india-speed-post-antibiotic-era.html

[woo me with science]

1. Plague will fit right in

in our return to feudal society.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. The Black Plague led to a population shortage

which led to the rise of guilds (sort of like unions) for workmen, more rights for workers as labor was scarce and expensive. Helped to reduce the rate of feudalism and the rise of skilled workers.

[GliderGuider]

4. So you're saying that a global pandemic would be good for workers' rights?

Hey, I love the way you think!

[GliderGuider]

3. Do I hear hoofbeats?

Nah, it can't be horsemen - must be them zebras acting up again.