Antibacterial Products: A Silent Disaster

A couple times a year local and national mass media put the spotlight on problems connected to antibiotic overuse. Some people consider those problems to be real and serious, and others think that the discussed topics are nothing more than new “fashionable” subjects to talk about, distracting people from “real” problems, such as climbing gas prices or war expenses. Meanwhile, antibiotic overuse continues as a common practice among US doctors and agribusinesses for the last 20 years. The practice of antibiotic overuse has put patient’s health at risk, contributed to antibiotic resistance and increased bacterial mutation to a new, stronger level; as well as it hitting the economy with new costly expenses in health care. It is time to stop

By weight, eighty percent of antibiotics are used in agriculture to “fatten animals” and “protect them from the conditions in which they are raised” (McKenna). Animals are given micro-doses of antibiotics, that is, a small amount of antibiotics to prevent diseases from occurring. This micro-dosage amount allows for mutation that Fleming described. The routine use of antibiotics in agriculture has led to “[sixty-five] percent of chicken breasts” and “[forty-four] percent of ground beef” to house bacteria “resistant to tetracycline”. Additionally, “[eleven] percent of pork chops carried bacteria resistant to five classes of drugs” (McKenna). These bacteria then spread from animals to the humans who eat them, causing humans to get infections which cannot be treated. The issue isn’t as simple as ceasing to give antibiotics to animals. Most animals raised for consumption live in an environment ripe for infections and diseases to spread. Instead of giving the animals more room to live, the majority of farmers opt to give the animals antibiotics. For cattle, This prevents diseases and death to the immature weaned calves and cattle which saves the rancher both time and money—passing on the savings to the consumers. In a free market society higher prices tend to not go well. However, if antibiotics became useless farmers would have to “[enlarge] barns, [cut] down on crowding, and [delay] weaning”, which ultimately would increase the costs of raising livestock

A Superbug is a bacterium that can live in the human body and has the ability to withstand all forms of antibiotic medication. Superbugs are becoming increasingly significant in modern medicine as they are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotics were discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming (Walsh and McManus, 2000). This resulted in a huge movement forward in medical history and even greatened human life expectancy. Since then antibiotics have been widely used and abused, people began to treat everything with this ‘miracle’ drug. If antibiotics are continually used as bacteria grows exponentially more resistant to them then eventually society will fall back into an era without the readily

Resistance among bacteria to current antibiotics may cause a new pre-antibiotic era, where common bacterial infections become as lethal as before the invention of the first antibiotic penicillin. With resistance on the rise, ‘simple’ surgery, cancer treatment and organ transplantation may become impossible.[4] Despite this very big and real threat[1], big pharmaceutical companies have abandoned or decreased their efforts to develop new antibiotics, while the demand for new and broad –and small– spectrum antibiotics is increasing.[2] [3] In this paper I will give an outline of the main factors why big pharmaceutical companies are no longer developing new antibiotics and I will attempt to pose possible solutions –call it Utopian solutions– that may turn the tide before it is too late.

Farm animals receive 30 times more antibiotics (mostly penicillins and tetracyclines) than people do. The drugs treat and prevent infections. But the main reason farmers like them is that they also make cows, hogs and chickens grow faster from each pound of feed. Resistant strains emerge just as they do in humans taking antibiotics--and remain in the animal's flesh even after it winds up in the meat case. (par. 8)

I recently watched the documentary called Food Inc. in which it unveiled the unsanitary conditions of livestock farming. Some livestock farmers use antibiotic-treated feed for their animals because they become very ill. The reason for heavy use of antibiotics is that the lack of sanitation in the tunnel ventilated houses create infections in the animals. (Robert Kenner, 2009) In some cases, antibiotics are administered without the consultation of an accredited veterinarian and for no reason. There has been an increasing fear in the public that antibiotics used in the meat and poultry may have some unexpected negative effects after years of consumption. The Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) have published articles that report on the effects of medicated feed that may create antibiotic resistance in humans. The CDC reports that 3,800 cases of drug-resistant Salmonella Typhi infections occur per year in the United States (CDC, 2013.) Salmonella is a foodborne illness which is also contagious amongst food animals. In recent news, the World Health Organization (2015) has labeled red meat a carcinogen. This recent information fuels the public’s fear that there may be a link to human antibiotic resistance and the overuse of antibiotics in food animals . This type of news has made antibiotics in livestock feed an urgent public health issue. In order to prevent antibiotic resistance and deter this problem the proposed bill known as Senate Bill 770 (SB. 770)

Finally, the most important reason there should be strict regulations to curb the overuse of antibiotics in factory farming is because this practice is creating breeding grounds for super bugs. A 2008 report from Pew Commission report on Industrial Farm Animal Production concluded that “of particular concern is the rapid rise in antibiotic-resistant microbes, an inevitable consequence of the widespread use of antibiotics as feed additives in industrial livestock operations” (Sayre 76-83). Most often the superbugs hitch a ride into the surrounding environment in the mountains of waste produced on industrial scale farms. They end up in our ground water, soil, and even our meats. Making themselves know in the ever increasing numbers of antibiotic-resistant infections that now kill more people annually than AIDS.

Widespread use of antibiotics has been very controversial in the media as well in the general population. Due to these controversies, it is very misunderstood to how antibiotics work leading to many patients in the hospital setting wanting to take them when it is not necessary or refusing to take when it is necessary for their survival. Some of this controversy is due to antibiotic resistance, which has spread an alarming rate in the 21st century (Walsh, 2000). Antibiotic resistance is the result of very strong bacteria or microbes that are resistant to the antibiotic prescribed and those microbes accumulate overtime by their survival, reproduction and transfer, leading to increased levels of antibiotic resistance.

In the last fifty years, the most prominent and transformative medical advancement made was the discovery of antibiotics and disinfectants. On the contrary, with the uncovering of antibiotics came the repercussion of the progressively threatening antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria or ‘superbugs’ formed due to the lack of care from the people to follow through with simple safety procedures in order to entirely get rid of bacterial illnesses and infections. Appropriate precautions are necessary and expectedly need to be taken, in order to minimize and possibly prohibit the formation, continual growth and limit the strength of resistance in the antibiotic-resistant superbugs, and most importantly to preserve medical advancements

The original success of antimicrobial agents has had a large influence over America’s dependency of antibiotics. Originally, these agents were widely considered as a cure-all drug by many involved in the health field and by the Americans receiving these medications. Such medical breakthrough won alexander Fleming, the creator of penicillin, a Nobel Prize in 1945 (“Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report”) Regardless of the beneficial properties his vaccination, he warns that improper use can be followed by great consequences. Today that holds to be very true. For a period of time, there was a rapid rise in the production of different antibiotics to meet the supply and demand of health care prescriptions and patient consumption. Over time,

The book, Missing Microbes, by Martin J. Blaser, MD, was a very different read, then our other book, The Creative Destruction of Medicine, by Eric Topol, MD. In this book Dr. Blaser discusses the overuse of antibiotics and how it is affecting the United States. The United States has had a major increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases and Dr. Blaser explains the reasoning. The advancement of medicine and the increase use seems to be causing more harm than good in today’s society. Dr. Blaser discusses how the use of antibiotics and drugs to treat different illnesses may also be causing long-term effects on people’s lives. Dr. Blaser believes that our missing microbes may have something to do with main chronic diseases such as: allergies, asthma, cancers, diabetes, and obesity. These are the main diseases causing havoc on our population today affecting all of our families in some form or fashion. Dr. Blaser backs his theory by providing evidence and facts to prove his theory. The belief of Dr. Blaser based on this book could cause harm to some of us who are trying to be allied health professionals, not only in the future but also now. The effects has even trickled into agriculture with the animals being pumped with antibiotics and steroids to increase their size, which we ingest and get the effects of those drugs also.

As a writer for The Globe and Mail, Jennifer Yang, stated, “Anti-bacterial products containing anti-microbial agents are being increasingly marketed to Canadians for personal and household use despite a lack of evidence for additional benefit and serious concerns about the potential for increased bacterial resistance.” The concern she is talking about is centred in the use of the products such as disinfectant sprays, of which can kill 99.9% of bacteria on a given surface. The 0.1% that is left remaining is the mutated antibiotic-resistant super bug which the disinfectant is unable to kill due to its mutated nature. And being the only type left, it has no competitors remaining for resources and can divide at a rapid pace, giving birth to a larger colony of highly dangerous pathogens. The same phenomena occurs when patients stop taking antibiotics half way through their treatment. The amount of bacteria in their body at that point has a higher percentage of stronger bacteria than the weaker. Therefore, when the patient decides to stop their antibiotic treatment, they inadvertently create more resistant bacteria than there originally was in their body, as the mutated bacteria now has more room to grow. If those bacteria are then passed on to another person, the rate of resistant bacteria dramatically increases, raising the amount of near invincible pathogens in the world by another percentage.

For nearly thirty years, there have been quality assurance programs to help reassure farmers and ranchers are continuously improving the way they raise beef. This includes the way antibiotics are used to protect human health and animal health as well, otherwise known as antibiotic stewardship. “Antimicrobial stewardship is a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials (including antibiotics), improves patient outcomes, reduces microbial resistance, and decreases the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms” (Khabbaz ). There are some controversial

The abuse of antibiotics in animal husbandry is quickly gaining speed as a potent problem in the world, and because of the overuse, antibiotic resistance is a terrifying prospect that is overwhelming doctors as they try to combat resistant bacteria; the future of the world depends on the way the resistant bacteria is handled, and it needs to be evaluated from the lowest level it can be: the animals. An overwhelming number of the antibiotics are being given to food producing animals, even when they are not necessary. The FDA recognizes that the overuse of antibiotics could lead to resistance, but they continue to pass lax policies; the FDA is being surpassed by other organizations that are fighting to combat the growing problem, but mandatory laws are yet to be passed in the US. Because of this hesitancy to pass compulsory laws, due to competing government initiatives, this overuse of antibiotics is adding to the problem of antibiotics resistance by allowing the bacteria to develop resistance from overexposure. Animals are being abused because antibiotics are being misused, and animals have dose after dose forced on them, despite not needing them, because of the increased efficiency of growth in these meat producing animals. A major shift is needed in the culture of animal husbandry to put an end to this overuse of antibiotics; mandatory laws must be passed outlawing antibiotics that are medically suitable for humans from farms, requiring strict monitoring, and no longer

Antimicrobial agents are an integral part of everyday life in today’s society and play a vital role in reducing the impact of diseases across the globe.