Drug-Resistant Infections
Experts are worried that the incidences of drug-resistant infections is rising rapidly.
This week (week ending March 4, 2006) the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases published a list of the six most dangerous drug-resistant bugs. To quote the journal, (see
this article) "Antibiotic resistance is on the rise globally, and it is mainly driven by the selective pressure imposed by (inappropriate) antibiotic use. Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in hospitals, and infections with drug-resistant microorganisms increase the cost of health care, length of hospital stay, and mortality. ... The major reason that antibiotics are prescribed inappropriately is that there is a lack of knowledge about infectious diseases and antimicrobial therapy; health care providers are afraid not to prescribe antibiotics."
An article with more details about each of the six "super bugs" is
here.
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or, MRSA
- Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species
- Acinetobacter baumannii
- Aspergillus
- Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE)
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
According to an article at Newstarget, there's a superbug crisis brewing in the United States, and it's caused by the overprescription of antibiotics by doctors. The answer to this crisis, say medical researchers, is to come up with yet more antibiotics. If we don't, hundreds of thousands of hospitalized patients could die each year from superbug infections that simply can't be treated with even the strongest antibiotics available today.
The article suggests a different take on all this: maybe antibiotics are the problem, not the solution. Maybe we need to support patients' immune systems so they can fight off infections, and stop concocting ever more complicated pharmaceuticals that actually promote the breeding of drug-resistant strains of bacteria.
Other Articles (new windows will open)
A drug-resistant superbug that spreads by skin contact is infecting thousands of people across the US and may now have reached Europe. See full article
here.
The number of deaths in which the superbug MRSA has been cited as a cause has doubled in four years, official statistics show. See full article
here.
Birth of a Superbug. Doctors are finding more and more patients whose infections are caused by bacteria that cannot be killed by the usual antibiotics. How do bacterial populations evolve resistance to drugs over time? What are we doing to help or hurt the situation? See full set of articles
here.
'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals. See full article
here.
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