Britain launching global superbug fight

[webfact]

Britain launching global superbug fight

LONDON - Britain is to lead a global effort to combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs that threaten to knock medicine "back into the dark ages," Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday.

Unless new antibiotics are found, the rise of untreatable bacteria threatens a "unthinkable scenario" where once-treatable minor infections become fatal, he said.

As bacteria and viruses develop resistance to existing antibiotics, the effectiveness of such treatments naturally diminishes.

Cameron privately raised the issue with US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G7 summit last month and believes he has their agreement for a co-ordinated international push.

"This is not some distant threat but something happening right now," Cameron told The Times newspaper.

"If we fail we are looking at an almost unthinkable scenario where antibiotics no longer work and we are cast back into the dark ages of medicine where treatable infections and injuries will kill once again.

"That simply cannot be allowed to happen and I want to see a stronger, more coherent global response."
AFP

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Britain-launching-global-superbug-fight-30237587.html


-- The Nation 2014-07-02

[Credo]

Unfortunately, if they develop new medication, some countries will hand them out like candy at a Halloween party and shortly we will be back to square one.

[jacko45k]

As bacteria and viruses develop resistance to existing antibiotics,

I thought all virus were resistant to antibiotics? Am I wrong?

A serious subject for Pattaya........

[chiang mai]

+1, sloppy reporting again.

[chingching]

As bacteria and viruses develop resistance to existing antibiotics,

I thought all virus were resistant to antibiotics? Am I wrong?

A serious subject for Pattaya........

You are correct, viri ? are unaffected by antibiotics. I know in the Philippines you can buy antibiotics at any mom and pop store, and people have no inkling that they should take them for a designated time frame.

[maximillian]

Distrusting Cameron and all the other G7 heads, I would say there is something else behind this proposal.

Have they ever really been concerned about the welfare of ordinary people ?

Wasting billions on arms, wars and spy programs, they could do better with all these spendings.

Education and better health care worldwide would even make many of the existing antibiotics dispensable.

[Suradit69]

Unfortunately, if they develop new medication, some countries will hand them out like candy at a Halloween party and shortly we will be back to square one.

"...some countries will hand them out like candy ..."

I'd say ALL countries ... although as usual it's popular to blame everything on developing countries generally and Thailand in particular for all the world's woes.

U.S. Hospitals Overuse, Misuse Antibiotics, CDC Says

To fight drug resistance, agency seeks $30 million more, recommends hospitals improve prescription practices

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Many hospitals across the United States overuse or misuse antibiotics, which fuels the growth of drug-resistant bacteria, federal health officials warned Tuesday

http://consumer.healthday.com/infectious-disease-information-21/antibiotics-news-30/hospitals-overuse-misuse-antibiotics-cdc-685478.html

A central issue is overuse. Although antibiotics only work against bacteriological infections, all too often patients demand them – and doctors obligingly prescribe them – for coughs, colds and other viruses. In Britain, there have been attempts to limit over-prescription, albeit without much success. Elsewhere, particularly in developing countries, where drugs are sold over the counter, controlling usage is a greater challenge still. Add their ballooning use in agriculture, to promote growth in chickens for example, and it is not difficult to see how obsolescence rates are being accelerated.

Britain is reaching 'a tipping point in its use of antibiotics', says Wellcome Trust director

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10557959/Britain-is-reaching-a-tipping-point-in-its-use-of-antibiotics-says-Wellcome-Trust-director.html

[lostmebike]

Distrusting Cameron and all the other G7 heads, I would say there is something else behind this proposal.

Have they ever really been concerned about the welfare of ordinary people ?

Wasting billions on arms, wars and spy programs, they could do better with all these spendings.

Education and better health care worldwide would even make many of the existing antibiotics dispensable.

Cameron needs some positive spin since his embarrassment in Brussels.

[Credo]

Gee, Suradit, did I mention a country? I don't think so, but it seems you have an offender in mind, but wish to defend it.

[SanukJoeII]

Here a statement of the director of CDC, of some time ago (the problem is not new you know):

The CDC describe CRE bacteria as a "triple threat":

• Resistance: CRE are resistant to all, or nearly all, the antibiotics we have - even our most powerful drugs of last-resort.
• Death: CRE have high mortality rates – CRE germs kill 1 in 2 patients who get bloodstream infections from them.
• Spread of disease: CRE easily transfer their antibiotic resistance to other bacteria. For example, carbapenem-resistant klebsiella can spread its drug-destroying weapons to a normal E. coli bacteria, which makes the E.coli resistant to antibiotics also. That could create a nightmare scenario since E. coli is the most common cause of urinary tract infections in healthy people.

Tom Fieden, MD, MPH, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[belg]

thank you thai doctor to give antibiotics even for (every) conditions that it does not help but makes us resistant

[Zumteufel]

As bacteria and viruses develop resistance to existing antibiotics,

I thought all virus were resistant to antibiotics? Am I wrong?

A serious subject for Pattaya........

(...) viri ? (...)

Vira :-)

[Jonmarleesco]

Tell that to the Thai medical industry, which dishes out antibiotics like smarties.

[wileycoyote]

Good Luck on an important medical field of resarch

[bendejo]

Distrusting Cameron and all the other G7 heads, I would say there is something else behind this proposal.

Multi-billion dollar research projects. Money removed from gov't coffers and put into the pockets of industry.

Be sure those who own the pockets had something to do with this issue being brought to the fore.

[Scott]

Off-topic post deleted.

[chiang mai]

Thailand is not a Western country and discussions about moderation are against forum rules, why not take the issue up with the mods on a one to one basis via PM!

[I Like Thai]

Bacteria and Viruses are just doing what they are supposed to do. The arrogance of humans to think they can defeat mother nature is comical.

[Rimmer]

Posts discussing moderation have been removed.

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