Super-Bugs !

We have known for a very long time that overuse of antibiotics will allow the culture we are trying to cure to develop the ability to become immune to that treatment.  That raises the scary scenario of " super-bugs " that are beyond our ability to control.  The vast majority of antibiotics we have relied on for many years are now useless because they have been over prescribed.

Every hospital lives in fear of an outbreak of " Golden Staph ". Patients and their visitors may have noticed the appearance of bottles of hand disinfectant beside every bed and close to the entrance of every room.  The nursing staff have been trained to constantly clean their hands as the best defence against spreading infection.  The points where washing with soap and water are limited and this form of germ cleansing has proven to be most effective.

Unfortunately, the effect of antibiotics continues to retreat and the few effective drugs remaining are being carefully rationed.  We seem unable to get the message through to both the general public and many doctors that antibiotics will not cure a virus.   So many patients go to their doctor with respiratory infections - and demand an antibiotic.  They are convinced that is what they need and they are persistent with that demand - and too many doctors simply write a prescription to end the argument.

Researchers believe that up to 4.61 million patients may have been incorrectly proscribed antibiotics and in many cases they have failed to meticulously take the course in its entirety.   That is critically important.  If a patient begins to feel better and ceases taking antibiotics in mid course, the particular bug not only recovers but gains immunity to that drug.

This is just not an Australian problem.  It is a world problem.  Exactly this same overuse of antibiotics is happening everywhere and with world travel people who are drug resistant are mixing in our communities.   The drug industry markets its products across the world and as well as the medical industry they are finding increasing use in agriculture.  An even bigger volume of antibiotics is being used to speed the growth of poultry and livestock, have them gain weight and be ready for market at an earlier age.

There is a desperate hunt for new antibiotics but even if this is successful there is every chance that they will suffer the same fate - massive overuse.   We could be reaching the stage where the world will see decreasing longevity.   Perhaps the mere scratch from a rose bush while gardening may induce uncontrolled infection that may kill.   Without effective antibiotics all sort of horrors await.

Big Pharma, doctors and the government need to build a protective wall behind which antibiotics are protected from indiscriminate use.   That seems the only way the emergence of superbugs will be prevented !