Phantom Menace

I believe the real issue is this. Bacteria can pass resistance genes to each other under certain circumstances and even from one species to another on occasion. Without a line of defence or 'antibiotic' effective at killing the bacteria, we are left with no defence other than our natural immune system. So we basically flash back some 80 years ago to a time when antibiotics didn't exist and infectious disease was the leading cause of death and lifespan was lower.

The chances of you contracting the 'Phantom Menace' bacteria are extremely low. Same with other antibiotic resistance infections such as pneumonia or MRSA and so on. However the issue is becoming of greater concern to all due to the rise in the number of resistant infections today, which is growing annually. Being on Remade, or anyone 'immunocompromised' is open to acquire these infections easier and have a worse outcome due to the infection.

I think the main driving force, which is often pointed out in the news, is actually over use of antibiotics in agriculture. Feeding them to the animals at low doses all the time... There was an article just recently about the emergence of a bacteria in China that is now resistant to the last known antibiotic or something of that nature. The cause was simply that in these countries (and in all countries I believe) - access to antibiotics for agriculture is not regulated. No one is in charge of saying you cannot sell them to farmers basically. I do recall reading something where the WHO (World Health Organization) was trying to pass something to change this, but are struggling with third world agriculture and the industry in general.

Something like 70-80% + of all antibiotics in production today are actually sold directly to the agricultural industry. Using these antibiotics in the animals has lead to, well, the current situation.

And much like everything else in this world, nothing get's done about it until it's actually to late. Sadly.

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As for the name 'Phantom Menace' it looks like they used it to grab attention... Sounds a lot better than Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae. Make people more aware of the issue type thing.

Interestingly this may not have come about from agricultural use, but human over and unnecessary use or not finishing their full prescription type issue.

Post Edited (Canada Mark) : 1/1/2016 11:16:56 PM (GMT-7)

I mistakenly watched a PBS documentary on drug resistant bacteria last year and it kept me awake for days. I worry about these things, but like Mark says, we aren't that likely to catch any of these bugs.

This is potentially catastrophic. The best thing we could do at this point is to stop feeding animals antibiotics and focus on improving their welfare and overall health - not because we love animals (although that should be enough) but because we love eating them without fear of death!

Those types of shows freak me out too. I got a crazy bacteria and it nearly killed me. I laid in the ICU for weeks and no one could figure out why I was so sick. No tests came back positive. I think they said mine was a fungus but they could not culture it or tell me what it was exactly, even with a lavage of my lungs. It was unknown. They had to treat me with everything because they didn't know what to target. Scary stuff. Luckily I responded.

Red_34 said...
This is an antibiotic resistant bug in the E. Coli family. It is primarily dominant in China but there has been issues in the USA as well.
Whenever I hear about things like this, it kind of freaks me out...especially because I'm on Remicade

This is another reason why GIs should think twice about starting their patients out with strong antisuppressants without first trying to give the milder mesalamines a chance.

Totally agree CM. Do you happen to know when they started to use antibiotics in livestock?