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The End of Antibiotics

posted by cmn32480 on Friday November 20 2015, @02:56AM   
from the ruh-roh dept.

isostatic writes:

The BBC reports that the world is on the cusp of a 'post-antibiotic era'. A new mutation of bacteria in China has something "dubbed the MCR-1 gene", that prevented colistin - the antibiotic of last resort - from killing bacteria.

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.

[...] 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.

There's plenty to blame - pumping livestock full of them for "preventative measures", doctors prescribing them for colds and flus, and people not finishing a course when they are prescribed them - but the future currently looks bleak.

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Original Submission

• Re:Orig publication and a response, too Re:Orig publication and a response, too (Score: 3, Informative) by martyb on Saturday November 21 2015, @12:19AM

  by martyb (76) on Saturday November 21 2015, @12:19AM (#266022) Journal

  Thanks for the links! Unfortunately, I was unable to directly access the Lancet pdf link you provided. On the other hand, thanks to your links, I came upon this:

  "The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and Antibiotic Action have released an official response to the the The Lancet article titled, “Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mechanism MCR-1 in animals and human beings in China: a microbiological and molecular biological study”, published on 18 November 2015.

  Which can be accessed at this link on The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy [bsac.org.uk] I found the response to be eminently readable and non-sensationalist. Further, these passages seemed especially significant:

  As this week is World Antibiotic Awareness Week, the timing of publication could not be more appropriate. The finding that this type of resistance can be shared by different bacteria, irrespective of whether from food, an animal or a person is further evidence that the same drugs should not be used in veterinary and human medicine. All use of polymyxins must be minimised as soon as possible and all unnecessary use stopped.

  [...] For those interested in the global effort against AMR may wish to look at the supplement about antibiotic-resistance published in the UK Newspaper, The Independent on November 18^th 2015 [globalhealthaction.co.uk].

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• Re:Orig publication and a response, too (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Saturday November 21 2015, @04:51PM

  by Yog-Yogguth (1862) on Saturday November 21 2015, @04:51PM (#266233) Journal

  Thanks!

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