RachelM

Podcast “Bacterial Infection Defy Treatment” 4/16/2010
Look up in the sky!
Ok, so you really can’t see these superbugs but they are everywhere. On science Friday, 4/16/2010, a group of researchers and academics from all over the nation discuss the problems associated with antibiotic resistant. Antibiotic resistant strains, such as MRSA, are prevalent in hospitals. Other strains are beginning to surface such as CDIF, and gram negative bacteria are also becoming a problem as they are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotic treatment. Many of these bacteria are found everywhere, such as S. aureus found on your skin and in your nose. Douglas Adams might describe these species as “mostly harmless.” So, while they are a natural part of your body’s microbial community, certain strains are lethal if they get a chance to invade. Even pneumonia, caused by a common bacterium, is actually opportunistic when the immune system begins to go down the drain.
MRSA surfaced in 1961 in hospitals and has since become prevalent on large farm feeding operations where antibiotics are administered regularly to the livestock. Being able to combat these superbugs is an ongoing process as adaptation occurs rapidly as it has done so over the past two billion years. One scientist stated that these bacteria won’t ever stop adapting as coexistence was really the thing we as humans must strive for. Of course, the bacteria could care less as their genes continue to mutate. This scientist made no mention of the virulence hypothesis previously mentioned in the last post. (Refresher—it was assumed for a long time that bacteria strive to coexist rather than become more virulent. However, we know today that this is not the case and there is no proof to back this statement up.)
Most interestingly, one woman from New York stated the lack of cleanliness as the main contagion. Doctors, she explains, will wash their hands and then touch the patient’s bedpost before touching the patient. Cleanliness in hospitals is undervalued. Doctors and staff will often forget to wash their hands or come into contact with a fomites or inanimate objects that transfer disease.
So why have pharmaceutical industries not stayed one step ahead of what some consider “microbiotic warfare”? One researcher gives two reasons: economics and statistics. Economics states that there isn’t enough money involved in the production of novel antibiotics to make production worthwhile. Why would pharmaceutical industries produce antibiotics when they could be producing drugs that the client must take long term? It is more financially savvy to produce a drug that must be bought time and time again.

Researchers began to quibble over the best method of antibiotic production.  Some feel it should be a non-profit production but details are still as shaky as the legislature behind the actions.  Legislature, most of the participants agreed, tended to be slow on the uptake, and does not respond to scientific findings as quickly as one would like.  So making certain practices “legislative practices” leaves the door shut to potential novelties. 

Aside from cleanliness, the participants describe how there are many new methods in curing these superbugs that have yet to be discovered.  One such method are plaques.  Still, the best method is the preventative method.  This means, in many cases, feeling empowered to ask the doctor to wash their hands before touching you.  In Norway, one woman who called in explained, they prevented the spread of MRSA by going directly to the source and eradicating it.