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Rise of the Super Bugs

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DB008

DB008

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Did anyone catch the story on 4 Corners last night re: Rise of the Super Bugs

Well put together story, interesting and frightening.

Looks there are some big issues developing in the world of anti-biotics - more bugs developing resistance to antibiotics and becoming resistant.

The show focused on Tuberculosis strains which are anti-biotic resistant, in PNG. Seems that TB is a pretty big issue in PNG. There is also a young PNG lady in Cairns Hospital, in isolation, with drug resistant TB. Not to mention that a TB clinic funded by the Aussie Gov. also got pulled down (but that's another story).

Scary stuff.

Here is a youtube video l found where Harvard doctors are running experiments into how bugs develop these properties. Again, very interesting and l recommend the short 6 minute video.

Evolution in Action - Mutant Bacteria Replicating Superbugs - Prof. Roy Kishony




And to add a twist to this....

Superbugs' found in 4-million-year-old cave

Microbiologists, exploring caves in New Mexico, have found almost one hundred bacteria which are resistant to most modern antibiotics. The finding reveals important information about acquired resistance.

According to National Geographic, a team of microbiologists, exploring a four-million-year-old cave in New Mexico (the Lechuguilla cave system, located in Carlsbad Caverns National Park) have, at a depth of around 1,600 feet, discovered bacteria which are resistant to most modern antibiotic drugs. What is curious about the discovery is that the bacteria would not have had any contact with antibiotics or, indeed, with human beings.

The teams were drawn from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, United States of America.

The research team found thick layers of bacteria (called biofilms) growing on the walls of the cave. The research into the resistant properties has taken several years. Many species of bacteria were isolated (over 500), although only 93 proved to be resistant to common antibiotics.

Link
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And another interesting article (2000)

The Return of the Phage
As deadly bacteria increasingly resist antibiotics, researchers try to improve a World War I era weapon
 
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Interesting....

New MRSA superbug strain found in UK milk supply


Research reveals that antibiotic-resistant organisms are gaining a hold on dairy industry

A new strain of MRSA has been found in British milk, indicating that the superbug is spreading through the livestock population and poses a growing threat to human health.

The new strain, MRSA ST398, has been identified in seven samples of bulk milk from five different farms in England.

The discovery, from tests on 1,500 samples, indicates that antibiotic-resistant organisms are gaining an increasing hold in the dairy industry.

The disclosure comes amid growing concern over the use of modern antibiotics on British farms, driven by price pressure imposed by the big supermarket chains. Intensive farming with thousands of animals raised in cramped conditions means infections spread faster and the need for antibiotics is consequently greater.


http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/new-mrsa-superbug-strain-found-in-uk-milk-supply-8431187.html
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and more....


Deadly 'superbugs' invade U.S. health care facilities

DEADLY BACTERIA THAT DEFY DRUGS OF LAST RESORT
A new family of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, known as CRE, is raising concerns across the medical community because of its ability to cause infections that defy even the strongest antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance is spread by mobile pieces of DNA that can move between different species of bacteria, creating new, drug-defying bugs.

A USA TODAY review finds that deadly CRE bacteria are showing up in hospitals and other health care facilities across the country and there is virtually nothing to stop these "superbugs" at this point.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The doctors tried one antibiotic after another, racing to stop the infection as it tore through the man's body, but nothing worked.

In a matter of days after the middle-aged patient arrived at University of Virginia Medical Center, the stubborn bacteria in his blood had fought off even what doctors consider "drugs of last resort."

72b247a8-3d65-4264-8a71-c147a07f22a6-panel1-01.jpg
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/29/bacteria-deadly-hospital-infection/1727667/

After watching the doco on ABC about the drug resistant TB strains making an appearance, with PNG patients in Cairns hospital (in isolation), if these strains get out into the wild, there is no stopping them....
 
Cover of TIME Magazine (4th March)

Cover TIME.jpg

The Drugs Don't Work

A girl swings her legs from the examination table and glances out the small square window of the doctor's office. The breeze rolling in off Mumbai's Mahim Bay ruffles the papers on the desk, where the girl's grandmother has laid out her upturned hands imploringly. "Please help," she says to Dr. Zarir Udwadia, a chest doctor. "I don't know what to do."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2136819,00.html#ixzz2LtEsYA1c
Click to expand...
 
Great for selling magazines, that's for sure...

Fear sells.
 
On the same subject, I remember a few years ago while listening to ABC national, on the road. The topic was antibiotic over prescribing, by doctors, resulting in 'bugs' building immunity.
I'm sure they said the French had developed a synthetic antibiotic, that can knock over just about anything, but it wasn't being released.
The reason was, if they build up resistance to this, it is game over.:eek:

Here's another link to the same subject.
http://anguishedrepose.com/2011/09/...ant-bacteria-answer-super-synthetic-bacteria/
 
CanOz said:
Great for selling magazines, that's for sure...

Fear sells.
Click to expand...

This is one thing I think is real, if a resistant bug gets loose it could kill millions very fast and we in Australia wouldn't be any different to the rest of the world.
 
Something I have a bit of a worry about is when the next influenza pandemic hits. We're long over due for one.

The panic that SARS and swine flue caused will be nothing to a spanish flu style pandemic - it killed more than those who died in WWI

Not sure how the global economy will continue to function when politicians are forced to close the borders due to the voting public demands. Not sure how countries will cope with the fear and chaos from a disease that can kill within hours. I remember hearing on ABC radio some talks from people who lived through it. Someone is Australia was talking about how their brother / sister (can't remember which) was playing on the swings in the morning, and dead that night, or how an office worker got on the train at 1 end of the line in NYC and was dead at the other end.
 
Antibiotic Resistance Poses 'Catastrophic Threat' To Medicine, Says Britain's Top Health Official

LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - Antibiotic resistance poses a catastrophic threat to medicine and could mean patients having minor surgery risk dying from infections that can no longer be treated, Britain's top health official said on Monday.

Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, said global action is needed to fight antibiotic, or antimicrobial, resistance and fill a drug "discovery void" by researching and developing new medicines to treat emerging, mutating infections.

Only a handful of new antibiotics have been developed and brought to market in the past few decades, and it is a race against time to find more, as bacterial infections increasingly evolve into "superbugs" resistant to existing drugs.

"Antimicrobial resistance poses a catastrophic threat. If we don't act now, any one of us could go into hospital in 20 years for minor surgery and die because of an ordinary infection that can't be treated by antibiotics," Davies told reporters as she published a report on infectious disease.

"And routine operations like hip replacements or organ transplants could be deadly because of the risk of infection."

One of the best known superbugs, MRSA, is alone estimated to kill around 19,000 people every year in the United States - far more than HIV and AIDS - and a similar number in Europe.

And others are spreading. Cases of totally drug resistant tuberculosis have appeared in recent years and a new wave of "super superbugs" with a mutation called NDM 1, which first emerged in India, has now turned up all over the world, from Britain to New Zealand.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/antibiotic-resistance-catastrophic-threat_n_2850651.html
 
sydboy007 said:
Something I have a bit of a worry about is when the next influenza pandemic hits. We're long over due for one.

The panic that SARS and swine flue caused will be nothing to a spanish flu style pandemic - it killed more than those who died in WWI

Not sure how the global economy will continue to function when politicians are forced to close the borders due to the voting public demands. Not sure how countries will cope with the fear and chaos from a disease that can kill within hours. I remember hearing on ABC radio some talks from people who lived through it. Someone is Australia was talking about how their brother / sister (can't remember which) was playing on the swings in the morning, and dead that night, or how an office worker got on the train at 1 end of the line in NYC and was dead at the other end.
Click to expand...

You certainly wouldn't want to have shares in Qantas, Virgin or Wotif and flightcentre.lol
 
My father had MRSA in his leg that would not respond to antibiotics. At one point the doctors considered cutting it off. We all had to pitch in, and some of the things we did:

Clean all clothes sheets daily with a bit of weak bleach thrown in.

As soon as a wound would open up we would pack it with manuka honey.

At the time we used a soap with triclosan (dont think it matters) and also tea tree on the leg. This was only done over 5 days and on the leg only,then left to let the good bacteria recover as well. If you use it non stop you kill off all the good bacteria on the skin and start getting rashes.

Sure we did the whole towel over the head and breathing in tea tree steam thing as well.

Plenty of rest and good food.

Keep up with the antibiotics.

It took about 2 months for it to heal up but better then losing the leg. He is fine now but it did come back a lot weaker about a year after the first incident. I'm not sure how effective any of the above was but watching the doctors scratch their heads at how to treat it then say chop it off was not at all reassuring.

It started out with flu like symptoms then a very bad fever and delirium. Then a wound opened up on his leg that you could fit a golf ball in.
Mum had called me to come look after a doctor had sent him home. I had a fair idea of what it was after scaring myself stupid by watching all those superbug shows:D
We called the hospital straight away.

It was a while back now and my memory is a little fuzzy on some of the points. Always listen to doctors advice first etc
 
I believe school sores can be of the MSRA variety. 6yr old granddaughter had them at the end of last year and it seems it started with a mozzie bite which she scratched. She goes to after-school care in a near-by kindy so I suspect she got it from there. They did clear up with both topical and oral antibiotics but if it comes back, I will check back on this thread and look at what you have done, moXJO - thanks for sharing...:)
 
From the ABC....

An Australian infectious diseases expert agrees with Britain's top health official that resistance to antibiotics is as great a risk to public safety as terrorism.
Click to expand...

Full story here...

CanOz
 
moXJO said:
My father had MRSA in his leg that would not respond to antibiotics. At one point the doctors considered cutting it off. We all had to pitch in, and some of the things we did:

Clean all clothes sheets daily with a bit of weak bleach thrown in.

As soon as a wound would open up we would pack it with manuka honey.

At the time we used a soap with triclosan (dont think it matters) and also tea tree on the leg. This was only done over 5 days and on the leg only,then left to let the good bacteria recover as well. If you use it non stop you kill off all the good bacteria on the skin and start getting rashes.

Sure we did the whole towel over the head and breathing in tea tree steam thing as well.

Plenty of rest and good food.

Keep up with the antibiotics.

It took about 2 months for it to heal up but better then losing the leg. He is fine now but it did come back a lot weaker about a year after the first incident. I'm not sure how effective any of the above was but watching the doctors scratch their heads at how to treat it then say chop it off was not at all reassuring.

It started out with flu like symptoms then a very bad fever and delirium. Then a wound opened up on his leg that you could fit a golf ball in.
Mum had called me to come look after a doctor had sent him home. I had a fair idea of what it was after scaring myself stupid by watching all those superbug shows:D
We called the hospital straight away.

It was a while back now and my memory is a little fuzzy on some of the points. Always listen to doctors advice first etc
Click to expand...

I am a great believer in the powers of Manuka honey. It saved my leg. Six months ago I sustained a deep puncture wound to the shin of my right leg. After a few days without treatment it became infected. I went to Emergency at the local hospital. I was admitted and they operated on my leg and kept me in hospital for four days on an antibiotic drip. I was then released but continued on oral antibiotics, and visiting health care service daily to dress the wound. I went back to outpatients weekly to assess progress.

This process went on for three months, with a further operation and an MRI scan which showed a nasty leg ulcer. Now MRSA set in and the area around my wound developed a bunch on watery blisters. The blisters and the wound showed no sign of healing and the anti-staph drugs weren't working and they were playing havoc with my gut.

I discontinued the daily nurse visits and started to dress my wounds with Manuka honey. Now on the weekly visits to outpatients they were happy to see my leg improving. I never let on about the honey. After they dressed my leg at outpatients I used to go home and replace it with my honey bandages.

To cut a long story short the honey fixed my leg. Now there is hardly a scar.

Any old honey won't do. It is essential to use NZ Manuka honey with an UMF rating over 10. I used Summerglow honey with an UMF rating of 16+. It doesn't come cheap, but is worth it's weight in gold. It has a great taste too.:)
 
Drug resistent TB victim dies in Qld

A YOUNG woman has died after contracting a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis in far north Queensland.

The Papua New Guinea woman is the first person in Australia to die from the superbug XDR-TB (extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis).

Queensland chief health officer Jeanette Young confirmed a person from PNG had died from XDR-TB in Cairns, but would not comment on the specifics of the case.

The Courier Mail is reporting the 20-year-old died in Cairns last Thursday after being in isolation at the local hospital for some months.

Fears had been raised that the closure of tuberculosis clinics last year in the Torres Strait for Papua New Guineans would lead to an outbreak of the disease in Queensland.

However, Dr Young says there is no threat of that happening.
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/drug-resistent-tb-victim-dies-in-qld/story-fn3dxiwe-1226598480647
 
Experts warn of untreatable TB risk

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/experts-warn-untreatable-tb-risk-020528355.html;_ylt=AkdxezNyJykrPK5AwFzgdbX.Vsd_;_ylu=X3oDMTQydTlzdG9lBG1pdANTRyBOZXdzIGhvbWVwYWdlIE1lZ2F0cm9uBHBrZwNmZGQzODM4MC1jMWMyLTM4Y2MtYTgzYS01ZjgyZjY4NTg5MmUEcG9zAzIEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgNjNzUwYzE5MC05NDI3LTExZTItYWZkZi02YWNiYjY5ZGU1OWI-;_ylg=X3oDMTFpbzNyMW5yBGludGwDc2cEbGFuZwNlbi1zZwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

...Extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB, thus far reported in 84 countries, does not respond to an even wider range of drugs.

"The widespread emergence of XDR tuberculosis could lead to virtually untreatable tuberculosis," wrote the authors of one study, led by Alimuddin Zumla, director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases and International Health at University College London Medical School.

"With ease of international travel and increased rates of MDR tuberculosis... the threat and range of the spread of untreatable tuberculosis is very real," they said.

TB was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO) 20 years ago, but remains a leading cause of death by an infectious disease.

On its website, the UN agency says at least $1.6 billion (1.2 billion euros) is needed annually to prevent the spread of the disease.

For their part, the study authors urged "a radical change in political and scientific thinking".
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ABC News 24 just ran this Al-Jazeera story.

Interesting.


US disease centre warns of 'superbug' risk


The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a dire warning about one of the most dangerous strains of bacteria, which resists all known antibiotics.

The strain is called CRE, and up to 70 percent of those infected by this bacteria die - and these are mainly hospital or nursing home patients.

So far, the number of CRE fatalities has been small, but unless tougher preventative measures are taken, hospitals could become ground zero for a runaway epidemic.

Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman reports from Baltimore.
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http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2013/04/20134117153332321.html
 
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