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Antibiotic
Resistance Now Deemed a "Public Health Crisis"
The above headline is from an April 30,
2003 article from Reuters Health. On that same date panelists from the
Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Society for Healthcare
Epidemiology of America, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists
warned that the medical community is losing the fight against
antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" and few new drugs are in development to
counter this growing threat. The article states that the panel called for
"immediate national action" to limit the threat through judicious use of
antibiotics and better infection-control practices.
Dr. Martin Blaser, chairman of the
department of medicine at New York University School of Medicine and a
representative of IDSA, told Reuters Health, "Every time you prescribe an
antibiotic, you
are affecting not just that patient, but all living and all future living
organisms." He went on to say, "Antibiotic resistance is a function of
antibiotic use, and we're currently using tons of antibiotics. And since
there are relatively few antibiotics in the pipeline, when we reach a
certain level of resistance, we'll have no reinforcements."
Dr. Neil Fishman, director of the
department of healthcare epidemiology and infection control and director of
the antimicrobial management program at the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia, told conference attendees, "We used to think of resistance as
predominantly a problem in hospitals. But it has become more and more common
in the community. We also thought the organisms involved were different, but
now, all the divisions are blurring."
The point about super infections moving
outside hospitals was made in an Oct. 23, 2002 Medscape article titled,
"Antibiotic-Resistant Staph Moves Outside Hospital". In this article
researchers reporting at an American Academy of Pediatrics meeting stated
that doctors need to be alert for an antibiotic-resistant form of a common
staph infection that is quickly spreading in some communities. Sheldon
Kaplan, MD, professor and vice chair for clinical affairs in the department
of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of infectious diseases
at Texas Children's Hospital noted that 70% of the community-acquired staph
infections treated over the past year at the Texas Children's Hospital in
Houston were resistant to a class of antibiotics that were once the
first-line treatment. He said, "Five years ago, we didn't see it, now you
assume the organism is resistant."
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