Strep Bacteria Resist Antibiotics

News Day / AP ^ | 4/19/2002 | AP Staff

[Bigg Red]

bump

[ex-Texan]

Is this a spontaneous genetic evolution by strep bacteria or the result of genetic engineering?

Frightening that it is breaking out in groups of small children. It may spread like wildfire. No pun intended. This may become a very scary disease outbreak.

[friendly]

"Is this a spontaneous genetic evolution by strep bacteria or the result of genetic engineering?"

Answer: Spontaneous evolution combined with industrial overuse of antibiotics at Western cattle feedlots, vast North Carolina hog farms, and those Delmarva Penisula poultry factories where the chickens never touch the ground during their entire lives.

Also, bacteria have an amazing ability to share new mutations by exchanging genetic materials, even between utterly alien species. Thus, resistance to an antibiotic can rapidly be transmitted to many different species.

Patent theft by government agencies (especially Canada and socialized Europe) have been drying up the research so that we are facing a critical loss of next generation antibiotics when the current armamentarium eventually fails (see the current NY Times).

IMHO Prediction? A major deadly world wide bacterial epidemic in the next 10 years, to make AIDS look like a piece of cake.

[Jeff Chandler]

IMHO Prediction? A major deadly world wide bacterial epidemic in the next 10 years, to make AIDS look like a piece of cake

Well, aren't you the Suzy Sunshine!

[scholar]

Spontaneous evolution combined with industrial overuse of antibiotics at Western cattle feedlots, ...

Let's not forget the injudicious prescription of antibiotics by physicians when there is no need for an antibiotic, e.g. viral infections. Infectious disease physicians have been warning against this practice for at least 30 yrs. that I know of, yet the doctors keep handing out the prescriptions to keep the patient happy.

[friendly]

I'd be more sanguine if there were more basic science and clinical pharmacology research into new medications. Meanwhile I guess I'll have to up my dose of Prozac!

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

I see this happening due to all the antibiotics abuse but a one year old ENT antibiotic-Avelox Avelex Avelux? made me have a thrat swell up almost death-allergy while I have never had any allergic problems.

New drugs are there. The pharmecuticals want $$$ $$$ $$$

But it is a dangerous game as we have far gone out of the spectrum of basic penicillian.

[friendly]

"Let's not forget the injudicious prescription of antibiotics by physicians when there is no need for an antibiotic, e.g. viral infections. Infectious disease physicians have been warning against this practice for at least 30 yrs. that I know of, yet the doctors keep handing out the prescriptions to keep the patient happy."

Totally correct.

In some cultures (ie Haiti and Sicily) you haven't had a good doctor visit without an injection. This was how AIDS spread early on in Haiti, when gay infected sex workers passed the disease through unsterilized syringes in that benighted health care system.

[lonestar]

bug bump

[scholar]

IMHO Prediction? A major deadly world wide bacterial epidemic in the next 10 years, ... Whether it's 10 years or 20 years, there is no doubt in my mind it's going to happen.

[The Westerner]

"Patent theft by government agencies (especially Canada and socialized Europe) have been drying up the research so that we are facing a critical loss of next generation antibiotics when the current armamentarium eventually fails (see the current NY Times)."

Along the same lines, if prescription drugs for Medicare patients becomes law, it will have the unintended consequence of lowering the amount of money private drug companies can put into research. Not to mention the frivolous lawsuits over drugs like phen-fen which came with plenty of warnings at the time. Didn't the drug companies stop making childhood vaccines for the same reason? Not only will miracle drugs stop appearing on the market, chronic shortages will be the norm. Americans will reap what they sow.

[oldvike]

Your theory only holds true if the farmers you talk about are specifically giving their animals erythromycin. Otherwise, you're wrong. More than likely, the mutations are a result of over-prescribing by physicians.

[scholar]

The pharmecuticals want $$$ $$$ $$$

I know it's popular to villify the evil pharmecutical companies--I'm not happy with the cost of medicine myself, but it costs somewhere in the area of $1 billion dollars to research, develop and market a new drug. Then the companies have to defend themselves from frivolous lawsuits which cost more millions in legal fees.

Simple economics tells us that, if the company is not going to make any money on the product, they really don't have any incentive to R&D another potentially life-saving drug.

[The Westerner]

"How about placing the blame where it belongs - on the pharmaceutical companies..."

Do you also blame the pharmaceuticals for developing such powerful agents that eventually lead to such deadly and drug-resistant bacterial infections?

[scholar]

FYI