Deaths Attributed to Antibiotic Resistant Diseases

By Thompson - 2008-07-12 Find more articles like this in our Disability Articles category.

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Disease Spread By Swine

The antibiotic-resistant bacteria Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) is killing both people and swine.

Cancer and liver disease patients seem to be most at risk . The number of infected patients jumped 50 percent last year.

Health officials said the bacteria is being transmitted to humans through pigs. The increased use of antibiotics in agriculture may be behind the spread of the resistant strain.

What are ESBLs?

Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs) are actually enzymes produced by certain types of bacteria, which renders the bacteria resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat them.

ESBLs were first discovered in the mid-1980s,and at the time were not considered a serious threat except to people who were already seriously ill. . The disease was found rarely outside hospital intensive care units. Until recently, few people were affected by these mutated bacteria and it didn't appear to be a major growing concern.

Now,however, the British Health Protection Agency (HPA), has classified a new threat (called CTX-M enzymes) which are now being widely detected among E.Coli bacteria. These ESBL-producing E. Coli are resistant to penicillins and cephalosporins, and are becoming more frequent in urinary tract infections.

Other species of bacteria that can now produce ESBLs include:

K. pneumoniae K. oxytoca Salmonella Proteus mirabilis Pseudomonas aeruginosa The Problem is Worse Than You Think!

An October 2007 study in the prestigeous Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), there were approximately 100,000 cases of invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in the United States in 2005, which lead to more than 18,600 deaths.

Paradoxically, HIV/AIDS was responsible for the deaths of 17,000 people that year.

Antibiotic-resistant disease IS a major problem, and our fingerprints are all over it. . The study put MRSA in the spotlight last year, along with a number of school outbreaks that were of similar time frame. Discussions focused largely on reducing medical over-use of antibiotics, and proper hygiene such as washing your hands with soap and water to reduce the spread of infectious disease.

But the problem is seated squarely with humans. Over-use of antibiotics in agriculture, which is a MAJOR source of human antibiotic consumption, and hence increased antibiotic resistance, is the root cause..

Agriculture as a Source of Antibiotic Resistance

Both MRSA and ESBL are being traced back to animals raised for food production, especially pigs.

These animals are routinely fed antibiotics at varying dosages to prevent disease, and because they gain significantly more weight than un- treated animals. Apparently, little thought was given to the repeated consumption by humans of this medicine-besotted meat.

There is no clear evidence to indicate the cause of infection of people who have not eaten infected meat, mainly farmers and veterinarians.

However, the Johns Hopkins website states that the lower digestive tract is the main storage place for these organisms and they can stay there for extended periods, suggesting that contact with animal waste might be the culprit.

So, the meat industry practice of using antibiotics is indeed a driving force behind the development of antibiotic resistance in a now wide variety of bacteria that cause human disease.

The FDA finally banned the use of fluoroquinolones - a widely used class of antimicrobials -- from agricultural use August 1997, but not before a political and scientific debate led by the Bayer corporation, which saw profits circling the drain.

After all, antibiotics for preventative use is big business. It makes up about 70 percent of ALL antibiotic use! It would be impossible to makeup that usage. A 2006 study by the FDA found that chicken raised in the usual way, i.e. mass production, was a major source of antibiotic resistant organisms. A study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases found that bacteria from conventional chicken and from people who ate the chicken became resistant to Synercid, a strong antibiotic used to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.This constitutes resistance to what is currently the last line of defense.

It was observed that antibiotic-free chicken rarely tested positive for resistant bacteria, the ramifications of which are clear.

But, the dangers of using antibiotics in agriculture don't end there. Antibiotics filter down through the food chain in sometimes non-suspecting ways.

Antibiotics are also being transferred, via manure, into your food supply through a process called bio-magnification.

A 2007 study in the Journal of Environmental Quality looked at whether food crops will accumulate antibiotics from soil covered with antibiotic-containing manure.

Corn, lettuce, and potatoes were grown in soil covered with hog manure, from animals that had been treated with a common antibiotic..

The antibiotics were bio-magnified in all three crops, into both their leaves and tissue. Meanwhile, the antibiotics also transferred to the potato tubers, suggesting that root crops like carrots, radishes and potatoes may be particularly at risk of antibiotic accumulation.

These findings unfortunately also have implications for organic farmers, who often use manure as their main source of fertilizer. And, as it stands, manure that contains antibiotics is still allowed under the organic label.

How to Avoid Excessive Antibiotic Exposure

So how can you ensure that the food you feed to yourself and your family is pure and healthy?

Apart from growing it yourself, your best option is to get to know a local farmer near you -- one who uses non-toxic farming methods. If you live in an urban area, there are increasing numbers of community-supported agriculture programs available that give you access to healthy, locally grown foods even if you live in the heart of the city.

If you are looking for a safer alternative to commercially raised beef please be sure to check out grass-fed beef. Grass-fed cattle are not routinely fed antibiotics. They may occasionally receive them for an infection, but that would be the rare exception, and even then they are only used for a few days.