The Scary Fear About Superbugs

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The superbug epidemicThe CDC has recently published a report about the threat of superbugs. These superbugs have built up a resistance to antibiotics that has many top medical experts worried. In fact, they are so concerned that some are predicting the end of the antibiotic era.

The first antibiotics were discovered in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A long evolution of new antibiotic drugs followed. Medical scientists were elated at the success of these wonder drugs in killing off harmful bacteria. But over the course of the last 100 years, bacteria has adapted to just about every antibiotic the pharmaceutical community has invented. The more antibiotics that were created, the more they were prescribed by doctors and used by patients. Unfortunately, this widespread use of antibiotics to treat every minor bacterial infection gave bacteria ample opportunity to adapt and prevail in the face of drugs meant to kill them off.

Now, in 2013, we have a situation where superbugs have taken over. These superbugs can’t be stopped by any antibiotics currently in circulation. They are on the rise and they already cause almost 24,000 deaths per year in the U.S.

Modern medicine no longer has control over these infectious diseases.

Is this the end of antibiotics being able to come to the rescue and save us from harmful bacterial infections? The CDC thinks this is very much a possibility if we continue with the current trend of over-prescribing antibiotics.

What are the top superbugs currently threatening the health of everyone? According to the CDC, there are three bacterium that are creating havoc with the health of thousands of people annually: Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE), antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, and antibiotic-resistant clostridium difficile.

CRE are a family of germs that include E. coli species and Klebsiella species. Normally, healthy people don’t get CRE infections. However, these superbugs can be passed around in healthcare settings where patients are already dealing with other conditions. Patients hooked up to ventilators, catheters, and IVs are most at risk for  CRE infections, as well as those taking long courses of antibiotics. Drug-resistant CRE infections are deadly in up to 50% of patients who are infected.

Cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea has complicated Western medicine’s ability to treat this disease successfully. There are few antibiotic options left that are simple, well-studied, and highly effective. The CDC states that it is critical to continuously monitor antibiotic resistance in neisseria gonorrhoeae as it poses a real threat to the health of patients.

Antibiotic-resistant c. diff is responsible for causing bouts of potentially deadly diarrhea in hospitals around the world.

As antibiotics become more and more ineffective, it’s important to boost your intake of nature’s natural antibiotics. Garlic, aloe vera, lemon, onion, peppermint, and oregano are just a few foods you can add to your daily meals to keep bacteria at bay. The more you can incorporate these natural foods into your diet, the more you can avoid the over-use of antibiotics. You can also turn to probiotics for help in stopping the spread of dangerous bacteria in your body. The more “good” bacteria you have, the less room there is for harmful bacteria to spread.

Source(s) for Today’s Article:
“Threat Report 2013,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site; http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013/, last accessed Sept. 18, 2013.
“Antimicrobial Resistance,” World Health Organization web site, May 2013; http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs194/en/, last accessed Sept. 18, 2013.