Anyone else notice how few antibiotics are being developed now
[pharmaceutical-journal.com]
0
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.This another example of how you cannot leave the free market and private industry to solve all problems.
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
Dec 16, 2018
1
Yes, and it takes much less time for bacteria to become resistant than the time it takes to develop another antibiotic. However, I recently saw a youtube video about the possibility of using bacteriophage to combat infections.
"A bacteriophage (/bækˈtɪərioʊfeɪdʒ/), also known informally as a phage (/feɪdʒ/), is a virus that infects and replicates within Bacteria and Archaea." -- Wikipedia
EdEarl
Level 8
Dec 16, 2018
0
"Arrowsmith"
Oil of Oregano is a natural antibiotic that may be effective against bacteria that are resistant to pharmaceutical antibiotics. A cousin of mine tells me that he used it to cure himself of a hospital-acquired MRSA infection. That is of course just one data point, and your results may differ.
doug6352
Level 7
Dec 16, 2018
0
(IMHO) the antibiotic hand soaps are creating stronger "Bugs",so there's a constant race to develop stronger medications,but at what cost? Will a limit be reached? In the future,will the common cold,mutate to become life threatening? A scratch have septis set in?
Mike1947
Level 7
Dec 16, 2018
2
JimG:
I agree with you, but there are other contributing factors including people discontinuing antibiotics before they should. It wouldn't surprise me if the number of drugs, including anti-biotics, being flushed down drains into our water supply is boosting their resistance too.
@JimG There's direct link between people flushing the used Cat litter down the toilets, and a rare infection of parasites in Ocean going Otters, as time goes by I wonder other affects,Some cities are talking about recycling the used toilet water,however,unless the water is flashed to steam,and recondensced,all the drugs flushed down the drains like antipsychotics,heart medications,ant-seizures,etc will be in the water,we think autism is bad now,wait until the rate is 10% of births then...
@Mike1947 youre thinking of antibacterial hand soap but yeah that and the overprescribing of antibiotics for non bacterial infections seems to have by the same principle made super viruses. Viruses mutate and develop defenses more rapidly than bacterial problems so we've helped train superbugs this way from what I understand.
Toxoplasmosis is the cat shit parasite, hadn't heard of it reaching otters but Im not surprised.
And my nearest city of Kingsport, home of a huge cutting edge chemical plant, installed the first system for renewing sewer water back into fresh water. It's been working quite well my whole lifetime. Im not sure how exactly they do it but theres an above ground pipeline that takes it to two different reservoirs. The first one smells like shit obviously and I don't think theres a point where that much water could be boiled and recondensed but I could be wrong, they must somehow. Between that and through physical filters and chemical treatments they can get it back to just plain H2O with acceptable mineral levels. My water out in the country comes from a reservoir elsewhere but the city tap water is better than most to be honest.
@JimG even if they do take them they still end up in the water supply as they will pass through you so the exposure to the environment is unavoidable.
I have long been concerned about this, and have written a post about it....a few months ago now. Governments have to fund this, because as it is outlined in the article Pharmaceutical companies answer to the shareholders, and there is no return on researching and developing new antibiotics for them. It takes years to develop a new drug, and they do so in the expectation of large profits as a return on the investment in the long term, the short term usage of antibiotics does not bring in enough profit in return. The current antibiotics in use are becoming ever less effective, and bacteria are mutating and rendering them useless in a number of cases. Overuse and over prescription have been two of the main factors in reducing their efficacy, and the farming industry is still pumping animals full of them so they reduce immunity to infections in humans because we then eat these animals. In Europe the EU banned their use by the farming industry about 20 years ago, but I believe it still happens in other parts of the world including the USA, one of the reasons I don’t want the UK to leave the EU and start importing food from USA. The other danger is that we use antibiotics routinely after surgery to prevent infection, if they become useless and no new ones are developed, then even the most routine operation could become life threatening. Despite the surgeon’s skills, patients could succumb to infection post op. That would be like turning the clock back.
Marionville
Level 10
Dec 16, 2018
1
My late wife,developed the nasty infection Cee-Dif,after stomach reduction surgery,but she was a smoker from High School,the cancer may have been dormant in her lungs,but when her immune system was compromised,it became energized,first a 3/4" brain tumor,then eventual death from the cancer in her bones and major organs,from diagnosis to her passing,13 months.....
@Mike1947 My sincere condolences...that was a real tragedy. My husband was a pharmacist and he was really worried about the dwindling efficacy of antibiotics.
@Marionville Many times,I regretted her smoking,she quit before we married,but the cancer was in her lungs,waiting.... Had she not had the stomach reduction surgery(Gastric Sleeve,it's called),I wonder how her life would have been? But that's in the past,now...
@Mike1947 Yes we have to live in the present, those of us left behind.
People don’t use it the way that they’re supposed to so what’s the point of making new ones
48thRonin
Level 8
Dec 16, 2018
0
what's the point of living at all. None as far as I can see but if you want to keep living you might want them to make new ones. If you are going to live you have to do something. While I'm not sure playing video games is considered a waste of time by you but it is to me, I would much prefer to spend my time making life for humans better and longer. In the end, I don't think one is better than another, it's your time spend it how you like but understand most of us wouldn't be here without antibiotics and we are not the dominate creature on this planet, bacteria is. You have more bacteria living in your body than human cells.
@JesseBoren Ok good for you
The antibiotics that do come out to fight the more resistant bugs are in IV form and less likely to to be seen or the names recognized by most people.
Green_eyes
Level 8
Dec 16, 2018
0
that's because they don't want to lose them through misuse or over prescribing. In reality, we need to find new ways to fight them. There is much work being done in these areas now. Like the flu shot, while its a virus, not bacteria, they have been trying to develop a shot that attacks the old part of the virus that doesn't mutate like the new parts. They seem pretty close to having it ready. If they do it would mean one flu shot for life to protect against all strains. It's these new approaches that are our best hope since the antibiotics race we have been running is a losing race for us in the long term.
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