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Vaccines Can Help Fight the Rise of Drug-Resistant Microbes (harvard.edu)

An anonymous reader quotes the Harvard School of Public Health: Drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea, salmonella, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and many other disease-causing agents are flourishing around the world, and the consequences are disastrous -- at least 700,000 people die globally as a result of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) annually, according to a 2016 review on antimicrobial resistance commissioned by former UK Prime Minister David Cameron. It's a perilous situation, but several new studies from researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health indicate that an important tool in the fight against AMR already exists: vaccines.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently devoted a special feature section to examine the role vaccines can play in stemming the tide of antimicrobial resistance. In general terms, vaccinations can help lessen the burden in two ways: First, they can protect against the direct transmission of drug-resistant infections. Second, they can lessen the chances of someone getting sick, which in turn reduces the likelihood that he or she will be prescribed antibiotics or other medications. The fewer medications someone takes, the less likely it is that microbes will evolve resistance to the drugs.

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  1. What the hell slashdot by dknj · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I had to wait 90 seconds for slashdot to load dozens of advertising trackers.

    I guess this marks my departure from Slashdot. This is a sign of what will become the world wide web for the rest of our future. We had a chance to make a difference and the same dichotomies of change that prevented TV from being a learning medium will prevent the internet from reaching it's true intent. Or in less savage terms, the golden era of the internet has already passed and like traveling before 9/11, no one will remember what it was like.

    Better luck next time.

    -dk