Antibiotic resistance: World on cusp of 'post-antibiotic era'

[TriGuN]

Well, sht.

The world is on the cusp of a "post-antibiotic era", scientists have warned after finding bacteria resistant to drugs used when all other treatments have failed.

They identified bacteria able to shrug off the drug of last resort - colistin - in patients and livestock in China.

They said that resistance would spread around the world and raised the spectre of untreatable infections.

It is likely resistance emerged after colistin was overused in farm animals.

Bacteria becoming completely resistant to treatment - also known as the antibiotic apocalypse - could plunge medicine back into the dark ages.

Common infections would kill once again, while surgery and cancer therapies, which are reliant on antibiotics, would be under threat.

Key players

Chinese scientists identified a new mutation, dubbed the MCR-1 gene, that prevented colistin from killing bacteria.

The report in the Lancet Infectious Diseases showed resistance in a fifth of animals tested, 15% of raw meat samples and in 16 patients.

And the resistance had spread between a range of bacterial strains and species, including E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

There is also evidence that it has spread to Laos and Malaysia.

Prof Timothy Walsh, who collaborated on the study, from the University of Cardiff, told the BBC News website: "All the key players are now in place to make the post-antibiotic world a reality.

"If MRC-1 becomes global, which is a case of when not if, and the gene aligns itself with other antibiotic resistance genes, which is inevitable, then we will have very likely reached the start of the post-antibiotic era.

"At that point if a patient is seriously ill, say with E. coli, then there is virtually nothing you can do."


Resistance to colistin has emerged before.

However, the crucial difference this time is the mutation has arisen in a way that is very easily shared between bacteria.

"The transfer rate of this resistance gene is ridiculously high, that doesn't look good," said Prof Mark Wilcox, from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

His hospital is now dealing with multiple cases "where we're struggling to find an antibiotic" every month - an event he describes as being as "rare as hens' teeth" five years ago.

He said there was no single event that would mark the start of the antibiotic apocalypse, but it was clear "we're losing the battle".

'Untreatable'

The concern is that the new resistance gene will hook up with others plaguing hospitals, leading to bacteria resistant to all treatment - what is known as pan-resistance.

Prof Wilcox told the BBC News website: "Do I fear we'll get to an untreatable organism situation? Ultimately yes.

"Whether that happens this year, or next year, or the year after, it's very hard to say."

Early indications suggest the Chinese government is moving swiftly to address the problem.

Prof Walsh is meeting both the agricultural and health ministries this weekend to discuss whether colistin should be banned for agricultural use.....

 

[Thor]

Fck

 

[Thor]

AWAITING FINAL Colistin, a toxic antibiotic used to treat only the worst drug-resistant infections, died on XX at age XX. It was a gradual death, coming after a series of XX colistin-resistant bacteria outbreaks at hospitals in XX countries. Colistin leaves distant relations among the class of antibiotics known as polymyxins, but no immediate family or friends. Indeed, the drug’s passing leaves medical professionals with few—if any—options for curing deadly multidrug-resistant infections AWAITING FINAL

XX confirmed the death, saying the cause was overuse of the antibiotic drug, the same problem that did in carbapenem, methicillin, and vancomycin.

Colistin’s rise to prominence was an improbable one. Born in 1959 to a flask of fermenting bacteria and a Japanese scientist, it nearly disappeared in the 1970s, when doctors deemed colistin too toxic. The antibiotic was a talented killer of bacteria, but also wreaked havoc on kidney cells, and in 1969, an overdose of colistin killed an otherwise healthy boy. The medical community shunned colistin for safer antibiotics. “It’s not an easy drug at all,” says Yohei Doi, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pittsburgh.

But in the early 2000s, as doctors became ever more desperate for weapons against increasingly tough bacteria, they turned to colistin again. Colistin was eager for a shot at redemption, especially given that it had a chance to one-up carbapenems, a class of newer antibiotics against which more and more bacteria were becoming resistant. When doctors encountered carbapenem-resistant infections, they had no choice but to summon colistin for one last mission. Colistin still caused kidney damage, but hey, that’s better than dying.

 

[porchrat]

Yup. Soon we're going to have to start figuring out how to do things like vaccinate against bacteria we used to just kill with some topical ointment. Otherwise it is back to losing a whole limb when you cut your toe.

Dominant species on the planet my ass.

 

[TJ99]

Good thing evilution isn't real and organisms never mutate, huh? Otherwise we'd have a real problem.

 

[reactor_sa]

I blame those who prescribe antibiotics for every sniffle, and those that dont complete their fking course because they know better than the 10yr PhD white coats.

 

[Xarog]

About time to make laws which ban use of antibiotics in meat farmed for human consumption.

Antibiotics can completely screw up your gut bacteria balance and has been linked to obesity as well. Along with glyphosates, as it happens. This stuff is making us unhealthy, too. We need to use it sparingly and only in the presence of real danger.

 

[Ockie]

I blame those who prescribe antibiotics for every sniffle, and those that dont complete their fking course because they know better than the 10yr PhD white coats.

We need to use it sparingly and only in the presence of real danger.

Agreed. Watched a show about a guy in OZ or NZ and a dogs tooth just lightly broke his skin. Not long after they had to amputate his arm to prevent the flesh eating bacteria from spreading any further. Nothing worked.

 

[Ockie]

As me might start winning the fight against viruses, we seem to also start losing the fight against bacteria.

 

[SoulTax]

And yet SA doctors are quite keen to dish out antibiotics at the drop of a hat. Even dishing them out for viral infections.

I think I am going to get back onto my mission of making live culture homemade yoghurt for myself and my family. Just cant seem to find any decent live culture products on the market that also do not prescribe to the idiocy that is 'fat free'.

Scary times ahead. If only the anti-vaxxers had crusaded against the antibiotics instead.

 

[Garson007]

Meh. No single mutation will make any bacteria resistant to all antibiotics. So this mutation creates resistance against this antibiotic. Whoop-di-do. Doesn't mean the bacteria is even resistant against penicillin.

 

[itareanlnotani]

I blame those who prescribe antibiotics for every sniffle, and those that dont complete their fking course because they know better than the 10yr PhD white coats.

Nope.

The issue is majorly the use of antibiotics in animal feed.
Blame American factory farming methods for that one.

Corporate greed.

 

[Kalle]

I think I am going to get back onto my mission of making live culture homemade yoghurt for myself and my family. Just cant seem to find any decent live culture products on the market that also do not prescribe to the idiocy that is 'fat free'.

if you're in Cape Town you should try this: http://www.organicwarehouse.co.za/organic-probiotic-functional-food
They also sell you the starter cultures to make your own kefir and kombucha of you want to make your own.

My over a decade old and no doctor could help at all psoriasis disappeared completely after drinking kefir for about 6 weeks.