ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE AND SUPERBUGS

This is a major health problem that threatens to become catastrophic. Medical and health authorities keep warning us but we seem rather complacent. I will deal with this apparent indifference in another article on “paralysis by analysis" later. For now, let us just look at the mounting evidence. And why, pray tell you say, should I give a rat’s hind end about this? Because, it will affect you and your family as much as a nuclear war. There is no escaping it. You must prepare and there are ways. We will enumerate some very positive solutions. But first, let us look at the evidence.

"How big a problem?

What happened to antibiotics? Once considered the universal answer to infectious disease, we now know the effective life span of these once-miraculous drugs is limited. The problem, simply, is that we "got complacent," says Barry Kreiswirth of the Public Health Research Institute, who makes a living analyzing strains of tuberculosis that resist as many as nine antibiotics."

SOURCE: http://whyfiles.org/038badbugs/scope.html


"Cases Of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Worry Experts

One bacteria of concern, Staphylococcus aureus, is a common cause of infection in hospitalized patients. In recent years, experts have become very concerned about the increased incidence of strains of the bacteria that fail to succumb to all but a few antibiotics. This is known as antibiotic resistance, and most experts think that it is due to worldwide overuse of antibiotics. As the theory goes, if all the bacteria causing an infection are not eradicated with an antibiotic, then the remaining bacteria become stronger and more resistant to future use of the same antibiotic.
Eventually, this can lead to strains of bacteria that show resistance to antibiotics held in reserve for such cases, such as vancomycin. This raises the specter of infections for which no antibiotic treatment may be available, putting patients' lives at great risk. The CDC reports a case in April 1999, of a 63-year-old woman in an Illinois hospital with a Staph infection. The woman had kidney failure and had already received the antibiotic vancomycin, which should kill most strains of Staphylococcus aureus."

SOURCE: http://www.mercola.com/2000/jan/9/antibiotic_resistant_bacteria.htm


"Losing War On Bacteria

These "superbugs" won't be fooled by the same old antibiotics, in part because for years doctors overprescribed existing antibiotics and, in turn, patients clamored for the drugs even when they weren't needed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that diseases such as gonorrhea, malaria, tuberculosis and childhood ear infections all are becoming harder to treat because of increasing levels of antibiotic resistance. Doctors often are required to use a potent antibiotic to treat sick patients, when in the past, a mild medication would do. That threatens to make the stronger medication more open to resistance in the future, which one day could rob physicians of a vital weapon against disease."

SOURCE: http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20040621-103723-7985r.htm


"Drug-Resistant Bacteria in US Meat

Three new studies suggest the interaction among animals, people and microbes may not be as simple and predictable as previously believed.
Two of the studies uncovered significant amounts of drug-resistant bacteria in chicken and meat taken from US supermarket shelves. The third demonstrated that such bacteria can persist in the intestinal tract days after a person ingests them.
Researchers say the findings bolster the arguments of public health experts who want to limit the use of antibiotics in livestock. The drugs are used to treat sick animals, but in the US they are also routinely given to boost the nutritional benefits of animal feed and promote growth in food animals.
The concern with this practice is that the needless use of antibiotics gives a survival advantage to drug-resistant strains of the bacteria behind foodborne illnesses and other infections."

SOURCE: http://www.mercola.com/2001/nov/3/resistant_bacteria.htm

"Super-Resistant Superbugs

Infections we thought we had conquered once and for all are coming back because of a new breed of germs that doctors call "superbugs" -- bacteria that are resistant to almost all antibiotics. The latest culprit is called MRSA, a staph bacteria that triggers infections so virulent they can - and have - turned deadly within days."

SOURCE: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/30/60minutes/main614935.shtml


"How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?

How do bacteria pick up these drug-fighting habits? In some cases, they don't. Some bacteria are simply making use of their own inherent capabilities. However, there are many bacteria that didn't start out resistant to a particular antibiotic. Bacteria can acquire resistance by getting a copy of a gene encoding an altered protein or an enzyme like beta lactamase from other bacteria, even from those of a different species. There are a number of ways to get a resistance gene:"

SOURCE: http://health.howstuffworks.com/question561.htm

SOME SOURCES TO CHECK OUT FOR ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY SOLUTIONS, THERAPIES, TREATMENTS, ETC.

http://www.rifeenergymedicine.com/vema.html

http://www.rifeenergymedicine.com/superbugs.html

http://www.oxygenmedicine.com/vaccinealternatives.html

http://www.oxygenmedicine.com/vitamincstory.html