3 ms·

Great, keep the recipe under wraps, never allow it to be manufactured abroad, and only allow hospitals to distribute it. Otherwise this is just going to become

Great, keep the recipe under wraps, never allow it to be manufactured abroad, and only allow hospitals to distribute it. Otherwise this is just going to become the frontline antibiotic given whenever somebody gets so little as a cough in most of the world :/. The problem with our existing antibiotics was how generously they were given out to anybody with any symptom.

protastus 3y ago
Regulate the veterinary use too. Some antibiotics have seen unrestricted large scale use with livestock.
- Fomite 3y ago
  This helps, but doesn't solve the problem entirely. We have some data showing cattle with antibiotic resistant E. coli to antibiotics that are not administered to livestock, because they're carried on the same plasmids as other resistance genes that confer a fitness advantage in some other way (i.e. another antibiotic, heavy metals, etc.) That's not to say that regulating its use isn't a good idea, just that it's really complicated.
analog31 3y ago
Not to mention mixing antibiotics with livestock feed to promote growth.
drabbiticus 3y ago
Your comment is grounded in some truths and yet in this specific instance is very off base. From the article: > Curiously, this experimental antibiotic had no effect on other species of bacteria, and works only on A. baumannii. This is an oversimplified claim made by the BBC article, but broadly aligns with the research paper claim that the identified drug is specifically not broad-spectrum and not active against e.g. Pseudomonal and Staphylococcal species. The identified drug candidate is unlikely to ever see broad use because of the low activity against many clinically relevant bacteria. The most common use case for this candidate, should it see approval through the FDA process for this indication, will be for treatment of hospitalized patients who, while waiting for culture results, have failed broad-spectrum regimes and whose culture results demonstrate Acinetobacter infections.
droopyEyelids 3y ago
This point is moot because the antibiotics will be manufactured overseas where all the waste & runoff is discarded by pumping it into local rivers, causing ecosystem wide adaptation to the material. This is currently the situation in India, where the bulk of our antibiotics are manufactured.

protastus 3y ago

Regulate the veterinary use too. Some antibiotics have seen unrestricted large scale use with livestock.

Fomite 3y ago
This helps, but doesn't solve the problem entirely. We have some data showing cattle with antibiotic resistant E. coli to antibiotics that are not administered to livestock, because they're carried on the same plasmids as other resistance genes that confer a fitness advantage in some other way (i.e. another antibiotic, heavy metals, etc.) That's not to say that regulating its use isn't a good idea, just that it's really complicated.

analog31 3y ago

Not to mention mixing antibiotics with livestock feed to promote growth.

drabbiticus 3y ago

Your comment is grounded in some truths and yet in this specific instance is very off base. From the article: > Curiously, this experimental antibiotic had no effect on other species of bacteria, and works only on A. baumannii. This is an oversimplified claim made by the BBC article, but broadly aligns with the research paper claim that the identified drug is specifically not broad-spectrum and not active against e.g. Pseudomonal and Staphylococcal species. The identified drug candidate is unlikely to ever see broad use because of the low activity against many clinically relevant bacteria. The most common use case for this candidate, should it see approval through the FDA process for this indication, will be for treatment of hospitalized patients who, while waiting for culture results, have failed broad-spectrum regimes and whose culture results demonstrate Acinetobacter infections.

droopyEyelids 3y ago

This point is moot because the antibiotics will be manufactured overseas where all the waste & runoff is discarded by pumping it into local rivers, causing ecosystem wide adaptation to the material. This is currently the situation in India, where the bulk of our antibiotics are manufactured.