• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Drug-resistant Indian Superbug has made it to the USA.

Data Holmes

Data Holmes

Admiral
Admiral
http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2010/09/new_drug-resist.html

A person infected with a "superbug" that is sparking fears around the world was treated earlier this year in a Massachusetts hospital, disease trackers said today. The patient had recently traveled from India, a hotspot for the germ, which is immune to many common antibiotics...


Global health specialists attending a major meeting of microbiologists and infectious disease doctors in Boston this week said they are particularly concerned about NDM-1 because of its emergence in India. Antibiotics are cheap and available over the counter in South Asia, specialists said, fueling inappropriate use and, consequently, the development of drug resistance. Poor sanitation can further spread NDM-1, which thrives in germs that proliferate in the gut....
Click to expand...


People's obsession with antibiotics and "quick fix's" because they don't like feeling sick, is going to turn out to be one of the catalysts for a whole host of problems in the future.
 
Since we don't have the poor sanitation issue, we've curbed the over-prescription of antibiotics to a degree, and it seems relatively rare and easy to isolate, I don't anticipate this becoming a major issue here.

That won't necessarily preclude the media from turning it into the threat of the year though, unless sharks do something uncharacteristic and bite a couple of surfers.
 
Germs with NDM-1 are typically spread through poor hygiene and not by coughing or sneezing, Walsh said. In India, children playing in sewage could potentially be exposed to the superbug.
Click to expand...

I guess it's time to fill in the neighborhood sewage pit. Pity, the kids really enjoyed it.
 
Fortunately, I've built a germ free, hermetically sealed chamber...

Burnschamber-1.jpg
 
On the front page this just says "Drug-resistant Indian," and being a geek, my first thought was "that's a lame superpower."
 
Locutus of Bored said:
On the front page this just says "Drug-resistant Indian," and being a geek, my first thought was "that's a lame superpower."
Click to expand...

"Your alcohol is no match for my anti-inebriation gene! Why, this moonshine is as weak as, say, that can of Natural Light!"
 
sidious618 said:
FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR!
Click to expand...

Drug-resistant superbugs are nothing to sneer at. MRSA alone kills over 15,000 people a year.

We as a society have grown far too attached to "anti-bacterial" everything, running to the doctors for antibiotics for every little cold and flu, and have infected out food and water systems with antibiotics.
 
Data Holmes said:
We as a society have grown far too attached to "anti-bacterial" everything, running to the doctors for antibiotics for every little cold and flu, and have infected out food and water systems with antibiotics.
Click to expand...

Well, I don't know what shitty doctors you have, but all the ones I've been too have posters in their offices with cute little personified cartoon drawings of bacteria and viruses with the bacteria being knocked out (with little X's in its eyes) by an antibiotic pill that doesn't work on the cold or flu virus. This is followed up by nurses telling you the same thing if the poster doesn't sink in, and then by doctors refusing to write you a prescription for antibiotics if even that was not enough. They're well aware that antibiotics have been over-prescribed in the past and are very diligent in preventing the same thing from happening any more.
 
Data Holmes said:
We as a society have grown far too attached to "anti-bacterial" everything, running to the doctors for antibiotics for every little cold and flu, and have infected out food and water systems with antibiotics.
Click to expand...

I would live in a little bubble if I could. No infections! No stupid pollen trying to get through! Alas, I have to resort to antibiotics.
 
Data Holmes said:
sidious618 said:
FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR!
Click to expand...

Drug-resistant superbugs are nothing to sneer at. MRSA alone kills over 15,000 people a year.
Click to expand...

There are nearly 7 Billion people on the planet, that "only" 15,000 people die due to MRSA is, actually, not too bad.

We as a society have grown far too attached to "anti-bacterial" everything, running to the doctors for antibiotics for every little cold and flu, and have infected out food and water systems with antibiotics.
Click to expand...

This I don't disagree with. While I've never heard of antibiotics prescribed for colds or flus people have gone a bit overboard on the whole "antibacterial" thing and it bugs me too. People have to be exposed to germs and bacteria.

As for this Indian Superbug, the stuff I heard about it doesn't give me much pause. It's only caused a tiny handful of deaths and it's been caught in hospitals. If you're getting treated in an Indian hospital you're pretty much asking to catch something.

I think we'll survive this "superbug" just as we survived the Swine Flu, SARS and every other world-destroying mega-sickness that's loomed over us in a media obsessed with bad news.
 
Trekker4747 said:
. . . While I've never heard of antibiotics prescribed for colds or flus people have gone a bit overboard on the whole “antibacterial” thing and it bugs me too.
Click to expand...
No pun intended, I assume.

As a previous poster pointed out, antibiotics kill bacteria. They're useless against the common cold and flu, which are caused by viruses.

And yes, of course, you need some exposure to disease germs to build an immunity to them. Unless you're going to live like the boy in the bubble, or Howard Hughes in his batshit crazy old age.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnmMNdiCz_s[/yt]
 
It isn't so much the use of anti-biotics as the misuse of them. There are far too many people who do not finish their perscription from start to finish or use them appropriately as directed. That leads to more drug-resistent bugs than anything else.

Of course not every visit to the doctor needs a antibiotic perscription and too many people are becoming paranoid about it. We do need to be exposed to bugs so we can have natural immunity but at the same time we need to keep using antibiotics.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top