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Antibiotic-Resistant E Coli Reaches The US For The First Time (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the there's-a-first-for-everything dept.

New submitter maharvey writes: A woman in Pennsylvania has contracted a strain of E Coli that is unaffected by all known legal antibiotics, including the antibiotics of last resort. We have had bacteria that were resistant, but this is the first bacteria that is completely immune. Such bacteria were known in China, but since the woman has not traveled recently it means she contracted it in the wild in the USA. This is a major step toward the terrifying post-antibiotic world.

5 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Does vodka help? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I regularly have my Russian women consume vodka before placing their proverbial lips on my appendage. That is, after I place my tinfoil hat on and cross my fingers. So far so good. My anecdotal evidence supports your inquiry AND you read it here on the internet so it must be true.

  2. Antibiotic abuse and biodiversity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Biodiversity is a good thing, but we're destroying it. We need to allow nature to create new antibiotics and use those as needed.

    Also, there are some fucking absurd abuses of antibiotics. Doctors are way too quick to wrote prescriptions when they aren't necessary. We need to stop prescribing antibiotics when they aren't necessary for infections that will be stopped by the body's immune system or as preventive measures.

    Furthermore, we shouldn't be wasting antibiotics on animals, especially for cattle. I'm sorry that one of the animals in your herd is sick. There's no fucking reason to put antibiotics in the feed of all of your cattle. That's fucking ridiculous. Don't use antibiotics on cattle.

    This is a fucking big deal. People who misuse antibiotics should lose their license to practice medicine. I'd also support prison time for it.

    1. Re:Antibiotic abuse and biodiversity by golodh · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Apart from your gratuitous use of the f-word, I agree.

      Perhaps this woman's imminent death can serve as a rallying point to ban the (grossly irresponsible) use of antibiotics in foodstock fodder.

      Expect the foodstock industry to fight any such suggestion tooth and nail of course. Such a ban will cost them money since foodstock put on weight more slowly when not dosed with low levels of antibiotics, and any scare stories about antibiotics-resistant bacteria are "so many radical treehuggers' fantasies" of course.

      "Huh ... it's already happened you say? I thought we had another five years at least. Hmm ... denounce the linkage a speculation based on evolution theory, increase the lobbyist budget, and see if we can't get a deal with a nice understanding conservative presidential candidate."

      Why oh why do we need to actually see an antibiotics-resistant bacteria infect somebody before we'll acknowledge the blindingly obvious about to happen?

  3. Perhaps not use antibiotics on animals by NotInHere · · Score: 5, Insightful

    what about not using antibiotics on living animals? They serve as a feeding ground for antibiotics. The price would be that you have to pay more for products that include flesh, because you would have to isolate the animals better, in order to stop spreading illnesses.

  4. Re:Blame the farmers .. yeah ! by dow · · Score: 5, Informative

    Real life farmer here. Maybe is the USA cows in pastures are a lie, but in the UK ours spend the summer out in the fields. It's cheaper to keep them in a pasture than in a barn. Also, we don't feed our cows antibiotics. Again, that's something they might do in the US, but in Europe antibiotics in cattle feeds have been banned for quite some time. We have some factory farms in the UK also, but nothing the size of many US herds. One farmer wanted to build an eight thousand head farm, but it made national news and there was massive public resistance. They do not want that sort of farm in the UK.

    If you want to blame farmers for using such practises, blame yourself for looking for the cheapest food you can get. Supermarkets compete on prices. You wanted cheap food, you got cheap food. Now, you realise the price of that cheap food. The farmers were just giving people what they wanted, the cheapest food they could produce. Did you ever pick up an item at the supermarket and think that it was too cheap? When it comes to many quality foods, people should really stop asking themselves "Why is it so expensive?" and ask "Why is the other stuff so cheap?"