8 ms·

Still waiting for antibiotics-resistant bacteria pandemics.

by timeon 4y ago

HarryHirsch 4y ago
Tuberculosis? Gonorhoea? MRSA in hospitals?
- vibrio 4y ago
  it is here, and as it grows, much of the pain of drug resistance won't be chaos and screaming in the streets. It won't happen all at once. It will increasingly impact people getting routine procedures, or otherwise minor injuries. Someone who got a wisdom tooth removed or a a deep cut stitched up may find it doesn't heal, and there is no longer a magic pill available to clear an infection. It has been a challenging economic problem. There are poor/complicated incentives for R&D or venture investment into this area.
  - MandieD 4y ago
    Childbirth will once again be the most dangerous thing an average woman does, when a Caesarean becomes far too risky for any but the most dire cases and tears that have to be sewn up will often lead to childbed fever again.
    - vibrio 4y ago
      100%. As someone who has seen a ”normal, orderly” childbirth, I’m not sure it’s not already the most dangerous thing an average woman does.
mnw21cam 4y ago
Sibling comments point out some pretty serious conditions that have been caused by antibiotic resistance. However, antibiotic resistance is more likely to cause isolated problems than pandemics. We haven't had antibiotics for very long, and most of the pandemics before we had them were viral, not bacterial. However, before we had antibiotics, we had the problem that cuts, scratches, surgery, and similar could get infected, and then you would lose a limb or likely die. We are slowly returning to that state. We live with a huge amount of bacteria around us, and in our guts. Our skin generally protects us from them very well, but those same bacteria that are harmless outside the body can kill when inside the body. Antibiotics not only improved survival rates from silly trivial injuries. They enabled a whole world of surgical interventions, because after surgery you can just give antibiotics to kill off any inadvertent infection you may have introduced. (Yes, sterile operating conditions help too.)
pazimzadeh 4y ago
it'll probably be Acinetobacter

Still waiting for antibiotics-resistant bacteria pandemics.

by timeon 4y ago

Still waiting for antibiotics-resistant bacteria pandemics.

HarryHirsch 4y ago

Tuberculosis? Gonorhoea? MRSA in hospitals?

vibrio 4y ago
it is here, and as it grows, much of the pain of drug resistance won't be chaos and screaming in the streets. It won't happen all at once. It will increasingly impact people getting routine procedures, or otherwise minor injuries. Someone who got a wisdom tooth removed or a a deep cut stitched up may find it doesn't heal, and there is no longer a magic pill available to clear an infection. It has been a challenging economic problem. There are poor/complicated incentives for R&D or venture investment into this area.
- MandieD 4y ago
  Childbirth will once again be the most dangerous thing an average woman does, when a Caesarean becomes far too risky for any but the most dire cases and tears that have to be sewn up will often lead to childbed fever again.
  - vibrio 4y ago
    100%. As someone who has seen a ”normal, orderly” childbirth, I’m not sure it’s not already the most dangerous thing an average woman does.

mnw21cam 4y ago

Sibling comments point out some pretty serious conditions that have been caused by antibiotic resistance. However, antibiotic resistance is more likely to cause isolated problems than pandemics. We haven't had antibiotics for very long, and most of the pandemics before we had them were viral, not bacterial. However, before we had antibiotics, we had the problem that cuts, scratches, surgery, and similar could get infected, and then you would lose a limb or likely die. We are slowly returning to that state. We live with a huge amount of bacteria around us, and in our guts. Our skin generally protects us from them very well, but those same bacteria that are harmless outside the body can kill when inside the body. Antibiotics not only improved survival rates from silly trivial injuries. They enabled a whole world of surgical interventions, because after surgery you can just give antibiotics to kill off any inadvertent infection you may have introduced. (Yes, sterile operating conditions help too.)

pazimzadeh 4y ago

it'll probably be Acinetobacter