9 ms·

This is awesome. We underestimate how much antibiotics have made our lives so much better. I hope they make billions in profits.

sadness2 7y ago
How much they have made our lives exist, for that matter!
Despegar 7y ago
Biotechs focused on antibiotics are going bankrupt actually. It has to be publicly funded. https://www.ft.com/content/4da1c6e4-603d-11e9-9300-0becfc937c37 https://www.ft.com/content/4da1c6e4-603d-11e9-9300-0becfc937...
shpx 7y ago
We probably underestimate how much worse the evolutionary pressure we're exerting on bacteria will make the lives of future generations.
- roenxi 7y ago
  We're in the happy situation where it couldn't be worse than life sans-antibiotics in the first place.
- nemo44x 7y ago
  That’s their problem I guess. Yes we should clean up after ourselves but we should also suspect that future mankind will find the will to survive.
  - jdavis703 7y ago
    I believe we have a responsibility to steward the planet for future generations. Obviously if we all die from infections because we saved all our antibiotics for the future that wouldn't be good stewardship. But the way we hand out antibiotics to prevent a potential infection or to fatten up livestock seems to be a poor use of our resources.
  - AnthonBerg 7y ago
    “I’ll piss in my shoe to get warm now. The reduced capacity to keep warm will be me-in-5-minutes’ problem I guess. Yes I should clean up after myself but I should also suspect that future me find the will to survive.”
nvrspyx 7y ago
Story time: A few years ago while I was in Uni, I came down with a sore throat. Strep throat had been going around, so I assumed that was it. I went to the college clinic to get a doctor's opinion and medication. I told him that I thought it was strep, but the doctor wanted to run some tests to see what it was specifically, but he also said, "In the meantime, I'm going to prescribe a large doses of penicillin to get a head start and kill it since it's definitely bacterial." Fast forward a few days and I'm even sicker. The doctor called saying the tests were negative and we wanted to test to see if it was viral instead. Nothing came back. Then, he wanted to test to see if it was STD, but the tests take longer to come back. While waiting for results and continuing to take penicillin per my doctor's directions, I continue to get sicker. The infection had moved from my throat to my gums, then to my lips, then to a couple of fingers (that I accidentally slammed between a door) and my genitals. At this point, the doctor is convinced I have an STD because it's on my genitalia despite insisting that it started in my throat. He said it could've been transmitted orally. He runs every STD test under the sun, although he sent the samples in for the wrong tests the first time, and everything comes back negative. Since they all come back negative, he is convinced I have HIV considering how quickly it spread. He orders that test. A few days later while bedridden and during finals week, I get a call from a new doctor saying the HIV test came back negative and to come in so she could examine me herself. Considering how sick I was and for how long, she said that I clearly should have been hospitalized, despite the previous doctor that I saw nearly everyday and saw how long I had a fever for (2 weeks straight) kept telling me to just get rest. She also said that he never tested for strep throat, despite me insisting that's what I thought it was on the first visit. The new doctor says that she thinks it's strep throat too (which the previous doctor ruled out without testing) and she runs as many tests against it as possible. Turns out that I had antibiotic-resistant strep throat that became resistant due to the penicillin that the previous doctor was so quick to prescribe to "get a head start". It turns out that the doctor had been fired and she was his replacement...for good reason. Anyways, antibiotic-resistant infections are no joke. They get real bad, real quick. Plus, a shitty doctor can create it by prescribing medication nilly willy and force a potential HIV scare that you have to deal with for like a week. Those three weeks were the worst of my life, not just because of how sick I was, but also because I was convinced (since the doctor was) that I had HIV, forced to confront the person I assumed I contracted it from, and go through the worst pain in my life every time I had to take a piss.
codesushi42 7y ago
> I hope they make billions in profits. No. We shouldn't be wasting resources on developing new antibiotics, because their effectiveness will be relatively short lived. We should focus on alternative sources, such as plants found in rainforests that are rapidly disappearing.
- maxerickson 7y ago
  Billions in profits would be verdant proof that the development effort was not wasted (because profit is a measure of value delivered…).
  - codesushi42 7y ago
    Short term value and thinking.
    - airstrike 7y ago
      Cause who needs to pay employees and invest on future research, amirite?
      - codesushi42 7y ago
        You really think drug companies do either of those things adequately right now? That's a hoot.
    - maxerickson 7y ago
      The earth teems with people, we can do more than one thing at time. And short term value is still…value.
      - codesushi42 7y ago
        Just like extracting oil shale. Or mining "clean" coal instead of investing in alternatives. Gotcha.

sadness2 7y ago

How much they have made our lives exist, for that matter!

Despegar 7y ago

Biotechs focused on antibiotics are going bankrupt actually. It has to be publicly funded. https://www.ft.com/content/4da1c6e4-603d-11e9-9300-0becfc937c37 https://www.ft.com/content/4da1c6e4-603d-11e9-9300-0becfc937...

shpx 7y ago

We probably underestimate how much worse the evolutionary pressure we're exerting on bacteria will make the lives of future generations.

roenxi 7y ago
We're in the happy situation where it couldn't be worse than life sans-antibiotics in the first place.
nemo44x 7y ago
That’s their problem I guess. Yes we should clean up after ourselves but we should also suspect that future mankind will find the will to survive.
- jdavis703 7y ago
  I believe we have a responsibility to steward the planet for future generations. Obviously if we all die from infections because we saved all our antibiotics for the future that wouldn't be good stewardship. But the way we hand out antibiotics to prevent a potential infection or to fatten up livestock seems to be a poor use of our resources.
- AnthonBerg 7y ago
  “I’ll piss in my shoe to get warm now. The reduced capacity to keep warm will be me-in-5-minutes’ problem I guess. Yes I should clean up after myself but I should also suspect that future me find the will to survive.”

nvrspyx 7y ago

Story time: A few years ago while I was in Uni, I came down with a sore throat. Strep throat had been going around, so I assumed that was it. I went to the college clinic to get a doctor's opinion and medication. I told him that I thought it was strep, but the doctor wanted to run some tests to see what it was specifically, but he also said, "In the meantime, I'm going to prescribe a large doses of penicillin to get a head start and kill it since it's definitely bacterial." Fast forward a few days and I'm even sicker. The doctor called saying the tests were negative and we wanted to test to see if it was viral instead. Nothing came back. Then, he wanted to test to see if it was STD, but the tests take longer to come back. While waiting for results and continuing to take penicillin per my doctor's directions, I continue to get sicker. The infection had moved from my throat to my gums, then to my lips, then to a couple of fingers (that I accidentally slammed between a door) and my genitals. At this point, the doctor is convinced I have an STD because it's on my genitalia despite insisting that it started in my throat. He said it could've been transmitted orally. He runs every STD test under the sun, although he sent the samples in for the wrong tests the first time, and everything comes back negative. Since they all come back negative, he is convinced I have HIV considering how quickly it spread. He orders that test. A few days later while bedridden and during finals week, I get a call from a new doctor saying the HIV test came back negative and to come in so she could examine me herself. Considering how sick I was and for how long, she said that I clearly should have been hospitalized, despite the previous doctor that I saw nearly everyday and saw how long I had a fever for (2 weeks straight) kept telling me to just get rest. She also said that he never tested for strep throat, despite me insisting that's what I thought it was on the first visit. The new doctor says that she thinks it's strep throat too (which the previous doctor ruled out without testing) and she runs as many tests against it as possible. Turns out that I had antibiotic-resistant strep throat that became resistant due to the penicillin that the previous doctor was so quick to prescribe to "get a head start". It turns out that the doctor had been fired and she was his replacement...for good reason. Anyways, antibiotic-resistant infections are no joke. They get real bad, real quick. Plus, a shitty doctor can create it by prescribing medication nilly willy and force a potential HIV scare that you have to deal with for like a week. Those three weeks were the worst of my life, not just because of how sick I was, but also because I was convinced (since the doctor was) that I had HIV, forced to confront the person I assumed I contracted it from, and go through the worst pain in my life every time I had to take a piss.

codesushi42 7y ago

> I hope they make billions in profits. No. We shouldn't be wasting resources on developing new antibiotics, because their effectiveness will be relatively short lived. We should focus on alternative sources, such as plants found in rainforests that are rapidly disappearing.

maxerickson 7y ago
Billions in profits would be verdant proof that the development effort was not wasted (because profit is a measure of value delivered…).
- codesushi42 7y ago
  Short term value and thinking.
  - airstrike 7y ago
    Cause who needs to pay employees and invest on future research, amirite?
    - codesushi42 7y ago
      You really think drug companies do either of those things adequately right now? That's a hoot.
  - maxerickson 7y ago
    The earth teems with people, we can do more than one thing at time. And short term value is still…value.
    - codesushi42 7y ago
      Just like extracting oil shale. Or mining "clean" coal instead of investing in alternatives. Gotcha.