3 ms·

>I truly wonder sometimes whether antibiotics are actually underused in medicine (while simultaneously being overused in the food supply chain). In the US, thi

>I truly wonder sometimes whether antibiotics are actually underused in medicine (while simultaneously being overused in the food supply chain). In the US, this is basically a given. You don't have to look past the lobbying numbers to understand why. I'm curious outside the US, how often antibiotics are given out. From my buddies telling me stories about Mexico + the fear mongering with US Physicians, you'd expect a superbug to have broken out by now.

moneywoes 4y ago
What about the whole super bug antibiotic resistant thing
- dopkew 4y ago
  There are some who propound a more nuanced approach: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35704698 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35704698
nradov 4y ago
Multiple superbugs have broken out and are killing thousands every year. The irresponsible overuse of antibiotics in places like Mexico is certainly part of the problem. https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html
- hospitalJail 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridioides_difficile_infection#Cause https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridioides_difficile_infec... There is no mention on your page, or the wiki, that antibiotics are the cause the resistant bacteria. I can logically see why we would believe this, but you'd expect given the use of antibiotics on the farm and in non US pharmacies; we'd have such a superbug scientifically proven by now.
  - anonymouskimmer 4y ago
    Scientifically it's nearly impossible to prove things. However, scientific evidence supporting the antibiotic-driven increase in antibiotic resistant "superbugs" has been found. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/19/superbug-hotspots-emerging-in-farms-across-globe-study https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/19/superbug... Antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes, have existed for an uncountable number of megayears. Antibiotic use by humans is probably not creating many new antibiotic resistance genes, if any at all. But is is driving the increase in bacteria that contain these genes, as well as encouraging the horizontal transmission of antibiotic resistance genes and the accumulation of multiple such genes in so-called "superbugs". https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22757-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22757-1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30248271/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30248271/ https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13073-022-01040-y https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s1...
  - yarg 4y ago
    It's a fairly clear case of natural selection.
  - Fomite 4y ago
    One of the biggest risk factors for a C. difficile infection is being treated with fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, gemifloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, norfloxacin, and ofloxacin), which are often used in outpatient settings.
ejb999 4y ago
>>you'd expect a superbug to have broken out You'd expect it, and it has.
zamnos 4y ago
> [MRSA] caused more than 100,000 deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance in 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylo...

moneywoes 4y ago

What about the whole super bug antibiotic resistant thing

dopkew 4y ago
There are some who propound a more nuanced approach: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35704698 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35704698

nradov 4y ago

Multiple superbugs have broken out and are killing thousands every year. The irresponsible overuse of antibiotics in places like Mexico is certainly part of the problem. https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html

hospitalJail 4y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridioides_difficile_infection#Cause https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridioides_difficile_infec... There is no mention on your page, or the wiki, that antibiotics are the cause the resistant bacteria. I can logically see why we would believe this, but you'd expect given the use of antibiotics on the farm and in non US pharmacies; we'd have such a superbug scientifically proven by now.
- anonymouskimmer 4y ago
  Scientifically it's nearly impossible to prove things. However, scientific evidence supporting the antibiotic-driven increase in antibiotic resistant "superbugs" has been found. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/19/superbug-hotspots-emerging-in-farms-across-globe-study https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/19/superbug... Antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes, have existed for an uncountable number of megayears. Antibiotic use by humans is probably not creating many new antibiotic resistance genes, if any at all. But is is driving the increase in bacteria that contain these genes, as well as encouraging the horizontal transmission of antibiotic resistance genes and the accumulation of multiple such genes in so-called "superbugs". https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22757-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22757-1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30248271/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30248271/ https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13073-022-01040-y https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s1...
- yarg 4y ago
  It's a fairly clear case of natural selection.
- Fomite 4y ago
  One of the biggest risk factors for a C. difficile infection is being treated with fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, gemifloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, norfloxacin, and ofloxacin), which are often used in outpatient settings.

ejb999 4y ago

>>you'd expect a superbug to have broken out You'd expect it, and it has.

zamnos 4y ago

> [MRSA] caused more than 100,000 deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance in 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylo...