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> Poor sanitation in underdeveloped countries It's not just poor sanitation. It's that in underdeveloped countries antibiotics are completely uncontrolled, av

> Poor sanitation in underdeveloped countries It's not just poor sanitation. It's that in underdeveloped countries antibiotics are completely uncontrolled, available without a prescription for almost nothing. This availability promotes misuse.

zozbot234 7y ago
Better sanitation and hygiene would help with that as well, though. People would no longer get sick with lots of infections that can easily be prevented in other ways, and the habit of overprescribing antibiotics would disappear.
- quotemstr 7y ago
  People take antibiotics prophylactically all the time even here in the US. They'll do so in the developing world too unless stopped with regulation restricting use of antibiotics to cases where they'll be effective.
DoreenMichele 7y ago
Poor sanitation is a separate, important and usually overlooked issue that contributes to this issue in its own right. It isn't all about how antibiotics are used. That's my primary point: Antibiotic resistance is not just about antibiotic use. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Open defecation is still widely practiced in sometimes densely populated parts of the world where it is known to cause and spread illness. Building toilets (and the infrastructure that goes with them) is known to reduce incidence of illness.
sithadmin 7y ago
It's not just the availability that's the problem. Generic antibiotics sold in markets with little to no effective government oversight are often highly defective, with incredible variance between the active ingredient dosage listed on the label versus what's actually in the product itself. In most cases, the active ingredient contents are much lower than the label indicates, meaning that patients don't actually receive a therapeutically effective treatment unless they gamble on taking larger or more frequent doses than are indicated. Under-dosing in this manner creates excellent conditions for breeding resistant strains of bacteria.

zozbot234 7y ago

Better sanitation and hygiene would help with that as well, though. People would no longer get sick with lots of infections that can easily be prevented in other ways, and the habit of overprescribing antibiotics would disappear.

quotemstr 7y ago
People take antibiotics prophylactically all the time even here in the US. They'll do so in the developing world too unless stopped with regulation restricting use of antibiotics to cases where they'll be effective.

DoreenMichele 7y ago

Poor sanitation is a separate, important and usually overlooked issue that contributes to this issue in its own right. It isn't all about how antibiotics are used. That's my primary point: Antibiotic resistance is not just about antibiotic use. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Open defecation is still widely practiced in sometimes densely populated parts of the world where it is known to cause and spread illness. Building toilets (and the infrastructure that goes with them) is known to reduce incidence of illness.

sithadmin 7y ago

It's not just the availability that's the problem. Generic antibiotics sold in markets with little to no effective government oversight are often highly defective, with incredible variance between the active ingredient dosage listed on the label versus what's actually in the product itself. In most cases, the active ingredient contents are much lower than the label indicates, meaning that patients don't actually receive a therapeutically effective treatment unless they gamble on taking larger or more frequent doses than are indicated. Under-dosing in this manner creates excellent conditions for breeding resistant strains of bacteria.