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Unfortunately I'm a bit late to the party on this, but as a case in point, Norway has _very_ tight discipline on penicillin and antibiotics usage for this very
by marvin 15y ago
Unfortunately I'm a bit late to the party on this, but as a case in point, Norway has _very_ tight discipline on penicillin and antibiotics usage for this very reason. This has nothing to do with "medicines being outdated", it has to do with correct and disciplined usage of antibiotics.
Norwegian hospitals use forms of penicillin which simply do not work on patients from countries where antibiotics usage is more lax. Treating a patient from Spain with the same penicillin which is used for Norwegian patients would not have any effect and kill the patient. This is _solely_ because poor discipline in drug usage leads to antibiotics-risistant bacteria.
What needs to be done, and globally, is to
1) Stop treating livestock with prophylactic antibiotics
2) Stop prescribing antibiotics for conditions where it doesn't work (just because the patient has a cold and is complaining "can't you give me something?")
3) _Force_ patients to take their entire antibiotics course so even the small but drug-resistant minority of bacteria is killed off by the immune system and not transmitted further.
If the global community fails to do this, we will in the worst case end up with a world which looks the way it did in the 1800s - a simple bacterial infection will kill you, because it can't be treated.
This is a question of disciplined usage of medicines, not researching new and clever ways to kill bacteria. We can't eradicate every dangerous strain of bacteria on earth - it's simply not feasible.
- hartror 15y agoNorwegian hospitals use forms of penicillin which simply do not work on patients from countries where antibiotics usage is more lax. Treating a patient from Spain with the same penicillin which is used for Norwegian patients would not have any effect and kill the patient. This is _solely_ because poor discipline in drug usage leads to antibiotics-risistant bacteria. Wait what? The efficacy of an antibiotic is depended on the bacterial strain not the patient. The rest makes perfect sense however and I strongly agree.
- carbocation 15y agoDependent on the strain and its resistance profile. Staph aureus might be treated fine with some penicillins; or, it might have acquired methicillin resistance. Same staph aureus though, otherwise. On the other hand, yes, pseudomonas infection is quite different from staph infection. But that's not what GP is referring to.
- marvin 15y agoIt was implied that it was a tourist who acquired the infection in Spain, where the bacterial strains are often resistant to antibiotics due to lax treatment discipline.
- Ankur84 15y agoSo maybe the solution is not related to improving the drugs but improving the packaging. How about a packet that allows tablets to only be released at the correct times and records when they are not taken. Then require the patient to submit the packet to the doctor after the course. Draconian I know, but the alternatives are worse.