antibiotic resistance

I had almost forgotten about the antibiotic problem in the veterinary sector until yesterday when I wrote a quick thing about the industrial farming. I remembered this morning that there is one interesting problem in all this, one thing that I as a northern European was too surprised about at my first international conference to be polite about. What I am talking about? The use of antibiotics as a regular staple in the farming of animals in the US. Not only that but which kind of antibiotics that were used before at least… (I have since I left my former field not kept as good an eye on the question, which now leads me to think that I should go back and recheck a few things.)

I remember a poster at one of the biggest conferences in the world on microbes that dealt with antibiotic resistance in the different strains of Chlamydia and Streptococcus pyogenes that spread through the small college town in one of the more farming dense states up north in the States. I remember looking at all data and being surprised it was so many vancomycin resistance… of course, going back and asking one of the vets in the area, he confirmed that the most commonly used antibiotic in the farms everyday was vancomycin. Yes, you might not give it to people – but you spread it over food for the animals every day… (Note that it I not going to spread from the meat or so, it is mainly the actual overuse of a specific antibiotic that I am against.)

Why I though about this now? Because of the pandemic discussion.. We tend to think we are so safe nowadays. It is not like the early 20th century, at least not in the industrial world, and we have antibiotics and antivirals and steroids. All which might help us out. With one exception of course… as long as the strains aren’t resistant. As of today, the strain circulating is susceptible to the two main antivirals… and we have some antibiotic that work on even the most resistant strains of bacteria in case of complications. However, it is less likely to remain like that…not dooms day but simply stating that we see an increase in resistance every day. And especially when people panic and want to “save themselves” and find medical things online etc.

My thoughts? Sit tight. Don’t panic. Be calm. Go live your life. And be alert to if you are feeling sick.

If nothing else, my prediction (which may or may not be correct or completely wrong) is that this will go on for another couple of months and come early fall we will see if the virus has picked up the aggression level or if we will have a slightly mild and nonlethal seasonal influenza. That is of course, if people can stop panic and take antivirals in advance and increase the resistance. If that occurs, then we are in deed in a pickle.

We don’t need “refresh” buttons on every web page dealing with “latest info on the pandemic” since this is going to take some time…