Could Ancient Remedies Hold the Answer to the Looming Antibiotics Crisis?https://t.co/zCrhpQH92a pic.twitter.com/YNxcud2tro
— Yawei (@ChineseMedicine) September 16, 2016
Antibiotics
Antimicrobial resistance a ‘greater threat than cancer by 2050’
Antimicrobial resistance a 'greater threat than cancer by 2050' https://t.co/AfZWphtVoy
— The Guardian (@guardian) April 14, 2016
Superbug Concerns Continue
“We really need to drastically, drastically, drastically reduce the use of antibiotics:" Denmark finds new superbug. https://t.co/juCbnWUata
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) December 3, 2015
The Post-Antibiotic Era Creeps Ever so Closer
The implications for medicine of no longer being able to rely on antibiotics is quite serious. It would drastically change the medical landscape. This goes far beyond just the treatment of serious infections.
This recent study is very concerning: Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mechanism MCR-1 in animals and human beings in China: a microbiological and molecular biological study.
The BBC has a good write up on the above study which includes the following ominous quote from Professor Timothy Walsh:
“If MCR-1 becomes global, which is a case of when not if, and the gene aligns itself with other antibiotic resistance genes, which is inevitable, then we will have very likely reached the start of the post-antibiotic era.”
We have dedicated a whole new forum to this issue: Post-Antibiotic Era Forum on Ecoja