Before antibiotics, 90% of deaths were from infectious diseases. Now it is around 10%.
I am sure I read that somewhere but can’t guarantee it’s accuracy. Anyway, antibiotics have clearly had a tremendous impact.
There’s no such thing as “post-antibiotic”. There have simply been too many disincentives for pharma to discover/develop new ones.
Professor Jian-Hua Liu, from South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, said: “These are extremely worrying results. The polymyxins (colistin and polymyxin B) were the last class of antibiotics in which resistance was incapable of spreading from cell to cell.
“Until now, colistin resistance resulted from chromosomal mutations, making the resistance mechanism unstable and incapable of spreading to other bacteria.
“Our results reveal the emergence of the first polymyxin resistance gene that is readily passed between common bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Klesbsiella pneumoniae, suggesting that the progression from extensive drug resistance to pan-drug resistance is inevitable.”
... said that resistance would spread around the world ...
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Resistance does not spread; microorganisms spread.
I suspect that if antibiotics had not been discovered, other methods of treatment would have been developed.
I once read that a German Dr. developed a cure for Gonorrhea in the late 19th century using mercury. Since it was also dangerous, it was abandoned after antibiotics came into use.
We are seeing evolution in action. It isn’t random mutation. Life finds a way. Deal with it.
one does not need a prescription (so i have heard) to obtain antibiotics in mainland china.
they sell antibiotics at the pharmacy level to patients/customers who arrive complaining of common cold symptoms.
They restrict the use of antibiotics in humans but allow its unregulated use in animals, here`s an idea, restrict its use in animals as well. AND if the price of meat does go up, then so be it!
““Until now, colistin resistance resulted from chromosomal mutations, making the resistance mechanism unstable and incapable of spreading to other bacteria.”
This is not even close to being true. Bacteria transfer chromosomal DNA to each other all the time using viruses, plasmids and even naked DNA. It also commonly occurs between species.
Don’t cut your finger.