It’s so amazing to scroll through
scientific news and see all the incredible discoveries happening every day! I
love it when I read titles like, “New antibody found to reduce plaques in
Alzheimers disease” or “Oncolytic vaccines for cancer immunotherapy”. Instead
of posting on one of these amazing topics, I’d like to make a tribute to my
friend Debbie Downer from one of my favorite SNL skits. That’s right, I’m going
to post about something much more depressing! On January 12, 2017 Helen
Branswell published an article touting the recent discovery of a SUPERBUG that
is resistant to every available antibiotic!! You heard me, it’s time to retreat
into the bomb shelter and break into that food storage, because the apocalypse
is here! Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic but the idea of antibiotic
resistance is definitely not a topic to take lightly.
This article presents a case about a woman from Nevada who died in September 2016 shortly after returning home from India. It was reported that the woman had become infected with carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE). CRE’s are harmful because of their high level of antibiotic resistance. After a sample was sent for testing, reports showed that the “Superbug” was resistant to 26 different antibiotics and nothing that doctors could have done would have cured the infection. The article goes on to warn that bugs are developing resistance faster than we are able to create newer antibiotics. While it may be true that CRE infections are more likely to develop in people who are being assisted with ventilators, urinary catheters, or taking certain antibiotics for long amounts of time, antibiotic resistance is still an alarming topic.
I chose this article because in today’s day and age I think
antibiotic resistance is a real concern. Working near the pharmaceutical
industry I hear of parents who are at the pharmacy dropping off a new
prescription for their child’s antibiotics every two weeks. Antibiotics can
save lives, but is reaching for the pill bottle at the first sign of a cough always
the best decision?
So next time you’re out a dinner party or eating breakfast
in Disney World make sure you let everyone know about the new superbug that is
going to destroy the universe!
I love your intro. It was the number one thing that drew me to read this post and has a certain excitement about it that is kind of counter-intuitive to its purpose thing about a Superbug. As a matter of fact, this topic of antibiotic resistance has been one that I've heard of before and it kind of freaks me out. It makes me wonder if the age for antibiotics is coming to a close. If that were the case, the field for discovering a new substitute drug will be hot.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post it really caught my eye to learn more about sicknesses that could be antibiotic resistant. I have never heard of that before or maybe I have ever pondered on the subject before, but it is definitely something to learn more about and be more aware of especially when raising a family as well as while living on your own. It makes me think what more can I be doing to have a stronger immune system so that I do not get these kinds of viruses that can and are life threatening. Little does man know, but it is great to see that we are willing to learn and improve our lives as well as the life of others in preventing further breakouts.
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