045. Is The Era Of Antibiotics Over?

Is The Era Of Antibiotics Over?

By Health India.Com

October 28

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has announced that the world has reached ‘the end of the antibiotics era period’. ‘Humans and livestock have been overmedicated to the point that bacteria have grown so resistant to antibiotics that we are now in the post-antibiotic era,’ said Arjun Srinivasan, associate director at CDC.

The WHO had earlier warned that simple infections would no longer have a cure and the blame was on the overuse and the misuse of antibiotics for the situation. ‘We’ve fuelled this fire of bacterial resistance. These drugs are miracle drugs… but we haven’t taken good care of them over the 50 years.’

Doctors, according to him, are running out of therapies to tackle infections that could be easily treated earlier.  ‘There are bacteria that we encounter … that are resistant to nearly all- or, in some cases, all- the antibiotics that we have available to us,’ he said.

What are antibiotics? 

An antibiotic is any chemical substance derived from bacteria that can slow down or destroy other micro-organisms and fight bacterial infections. They usually are semi-synthesized and modify existing bacterium to fight diseases and infections. An antibiotic’s efficacy depends on various factors like host defense mechanism, the infection’s location and properties of the antibiotic. Their indiscriminate use can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It is therefore imperative to only use antibiotics when necessary and only as per the doctors’ prescription.

Antibiotics in India 

In February, the Indian Health Ministry had resolved to add warning signs on medication, a move which was welcomed by doctors who felt that indiscriminate self-medication needed to stop. Docs were observing that ailments which could be treated with mild antibiotics now needed stronger ones. This growing trend is attributed to the fact that micro-organisms are quickly developing a resistance to a number of commonly used drugs.  

When an antibiotic is used without a prescription or is not taken for the number of days prescribed, the organism knows enough about the antibiotic to mutate in such a manner that the drug is rendered useless. These organisms then get passed on to other people, creating a stronger and much deadlier form of the disease. A glaring example of this is the mutation of mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism that causes TB. When the disease was first diagnosed, all doctors needed to treat the patient with were a simple antibiotic like penicillin. Over the years the TB organism has mutated to such an extent that it has become difficult to treat, and extremely drug-resistant forms have also been discovered.  

Sadly, it looks like we’ve reached the end of the glorious period which started when Sir. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. Knowing humankind’s ingenuity, we sure hope we find something to replace antibiotics in the long run.

Link: http://health.india.com/news/is-the-era-of-antibiotics-over/

Republished here by courtesy of Health India Dot Com