Four out of five Americans take antibiotics every year. Whether it be to prevent postoperative infections after surgery or to treat a life-threatening illness, antibiotic usage is on the rise.
One could safely assume that this would mean infection rates are decreasing at the same rate, and they would technically be correct; however, they would be ignoring the type of infections that are growing in numbers and severity every year: those of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
If you have ever taken a round of antibiotics, you remember your doctor stressing that you must finish the prescription even if your symptoms go away half way through the prescription.
But why? To put it simply, when someone takes antibiotics, the medication kills off all the bacteria of that type in the host’s system. If you finish your round of antibiotics after following all of the instructions, the harmful bacteria should all be dead; however, if you stop taking the antibiotics when you feel better, or if you forget, some of that bacterial population remains. This bacteria is the most “fit” against that antibiotic because it lasted the longest against it. The surviving population then multiplies and creates what is known to epidemiologists as a “superbug.” This strain cannot affected by the antibiotics that were previously used, and as there are only 7 main classes of antibiotics, this does not leave a lot of options. So, it turns out that doctors do really know what they’re talking about.
Antibiotic resistance is running rampant across developed and developing nations. The CDC reports over 2 million resistant infections each year in the US alone. This pandemic is caused by two main factors: overprescription and mass-livestock agriculture.
The CDC reports that doctors give over 47 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions every year. With that many antibiotics in circulation, antibiotic-resistant strains of seemingly harmless bacteria are popping up. This rapid augmentation makes them significantly harder and more expensive to treat. These strains are also increasing in infectivity, as they take longer to treat and therefore have more time to spread.
Another threat is intensive animal farming, commonly known as “factory farming,” where large groups of livestock are raised in close quarters. These animals often live in unseemly conditions, and disease often spreads quickly and fiercely amongst them. To remedy this, antibiotics are mixed into the animals’ feed to prevent mass-infections. Although this technique was meant to keep food animals safe and healthy, the extreme overuse of antibiotics within the American meat, dairy, and poultry industries has led to a significant rise in superbugs from animals.
In 2016, the Department of Defense reported the first case of fully antibiotic resistant E. coli in the United States, and a 2019 study from the National Institutes of Health found that over 80% of E. coli samples taken from a group of hospital patients were fully antibiotic resistant.
Antibiotics were designed to take the world out of the medical dark ages by eliminating unnecessary infections. How ironic that the same unnecessary infections would become antibiotics’ downfall too. You can take preemptive measures to prevent resistance by avoiding unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions and exclusively eating antibiotic-free animal products (that means no more fast food or processed meats or cheeses); however, in order to prevent a total destruction of the world’s health care system, doctors and policymakers must decide on a plan of action to eliminate the further growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The clock has been ticking for decades, and time is about to run out.
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