Plague is back.

[Phone]

All,

 

Steve, I'm not exactly disagreeing with you - but I disagree.

 

There is no truly sustainable way of using antibiotics in the long-run. Micro-organisms have shown to be almost infinitely adaptable since the first introduction of antibiotics. IMO your "excuse" means very little. After a proliferation of new antibiotics in the 90's funding has stunted our struggle to keep abreast of a continuous and vicious cycle of resistance and obsolescence.

 

For example, the animal thing is pretty much a smoke screen IMO. The last antibiotic I remember being used in animal feed for growth enhancement was tetracycline. (Not sure about birds, i.e. chickens)

 

Phone

Edit: I failed to make my point. We no longer invest in the necessary research - in order to reduce cost - of antibiotics that are currently effective. To hell with tomorrow is not entirely on the shoulders of agriculture.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Phone

[chesters1]

Blaming foreigners was easy ,blaming farmers fairly easy but we know the food chain is abused at every step (as seen on tv lately) so pumping animals full of antibiotics "just in case" probably very true .

I think we should blame foreigners anyway we do not (other than foot and mouth) make many diseases on this island we import even them !

I believe though we will end ourselves trying to end someone else ,some genius will make a weponised bug that will only kill brown eyed people or those with a specific gene which will mutate the instant its released and have a killing spree hopefully in a far of country so we can get our cupboards full and hunker down ,having no freinds in this case could just save your life lol

Having watched a documentory by Rick Grimes i am well versed with self defence but lack the required motorbike to lead the shufflers to my enemy and lots of petrol because if your not in my contacts you aint my friend and my contact list is very short!

Edited November 7, 2017 by chesters1

[Steve Walker]

Phone - resistance will always occur eventually, but the more exposure bacteria get to the agent, the sooner it will happen. I agree that we need more investment in finding novel antibiotics, but using them as growth promoters or prophylactics in healthy livestock is insane.

 

Still a significant problem, it would appear;

 

https://amr-review.org/sites/default/files/Antimicrobials%20in%20agriculture%20and%20the%20environment%20-%20Reducing%20unnecessary%20use%20and%20waste.pdf

 

From 2012 FDA figures, more than 70% of the medically useful antibiotics consumed in the US were given to animals. And it isn't just the US. The EU and China have been using one of the antibiotics of last resort in livestock, and there is now resistance.

[Phone]

Steve,

 

I read the article with interest. In all the literature I have examined (maybe an hour) the low dosages used for growth promotion are an unqualified HAZARD.

 

Beginning about in about 2006 <> we began getting a handle on livestock misuse. Some literature, although not all, emphasize misuse in treating human disease as a more likely culprit. (human/human vs human animal)

 

Of course your comment "Still a significant problem, it would appear" cannot be denied or defended.

 

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216502/

 

I just don't like the idea of putting something like 70/30 burden on agriculture.

Phone

Edited November 7, 2017 by Phone

[Phone]

Chesters1,

 

You don't make much of anything on your island.

 

Phone

[Steve Walker]

Overprescribing is a big problem too. I'd have thought that your health system and litigation culture would tend to make doctors more likely to give antibiotics when not entirely necessary just to cover their tail and keep the customer satisfied?

 

Trouble with the agricultural usage is that it's not just your lot. Regulatory frameworks differ but everyone is at it to some extent, and as the article points out it's on the rise in some developing countries.

 

It is another example of the tragedy of the commons, I would say.

[Phone]

Steve.

 

You make a good point. About 30% of our health care costs are attributable to litigation.

 

Phone