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New Wave of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
reporter writes "New strains of 'Gram-negative' bacteria have become resistant to all safe antibiotics. Though methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the best-known antibiotic-resistant germ, the new class of resistant bacteria could be more dangerous still. 'The bacteria, classified as Gram-negative because of their reaction to the so-called Gram stain test, can cause severe pneumonia and infections of the urinary tract, bloodstream, and other parts of the body. Their cell structure makes them more difficult to attack with antibiotics than Gram-positive organisms like MRSA.' The only antibiotics — colistin and polymyxin B — that still have efficacy against Gram-negative bacteria produce dangerous side effects: kidney damage and nerve damage. Patients who are infected with Gram-negative bacteria must make the unsavory choice between life with kidney damage or death with intact kidneys. Recently, some new strains of Gram-negative bacteria have shown resistance against even colistin and polymyxin B. Infection with these new strains typically means death for the patient."
I really hope that the people who get these diseases are all creationists. Don't believe in evolution? Don't want it taught to children? Have a taste of it, asshole.
I piss off bigots.
But the elderly, who live on fixed incomes... poor families who depend on food stamps... or just a college student burdened with debt who wants to be able to take his girlfriend to a steakhouse for a special occasion... all of these people are seriously impacted.
Oh please stop with the rhetoric. Seriously, just stop right now.
I recently went to a nearly 100% organic diet and this includes grass fed, free range, organic meats (chicken, turkey, pork, and beef) which I get directly from a Wisconsin farmer. The last time I bought 10 pounds of ground beef from him it was $4.75 a lb. I could get it for even less if I bought 1/4 cow or more. We're not talking expensive meat here people.
Now, what's so great about this? First of all, I'm supporting a local farmer who takes the time to have smaller herds (better for the environment and the farming trade), who are grass fed and heritage breeds, which taste better than anything you'll buy at Big Box Grocery Store Foo. Oh, and the best part of it all? I don't spend the time driving to the grocery store the second I open 9 out of 10 packages of their ground beef because it smells like rotten eggs. This has happened so many times that I stopped eating ground beef from the grocery store for several years and switched to ground turkey instead. Thankfully I'm back to ground beef--because red meat tastes better.
Yeah, that awesome beef you guys pander--to the poor elderly and college students--is not only terrible for you it could kill you (and it has). Why the fuck people fall for Big Ag's bullshit I'll never know. $2/lb isn't worth the shits or worse.
People, if you're still eating corn-fed beef, stop. Find a local organic/grass-fed farmer and buy direct from them instead. If you can't do that, at least head to your local co-op and buy the meat from them instead (you'll pay closer to $7/lb however).