Fading Miracle of Medicines

Passing of the Antibiotic Era

Passing the door to his son’s room on his way to bed after a long day, James glance made way to the restless sleep of his young son David. Placing his hand on David’s forehead to reassure without waking him. James instincts reacted with alarm to the heat pouring from the boy’s small forehead. My God he is burning up he muttered. Fever fueled by a smoldering ear infection spiked and once again the young boy would visit the “ear doctor” for yet another two week course of antibiotics. This time was to be different as young David’s life hinged on the fading power of antibiotics.

Just as before, David was prescribed a two week course of Ampicillin and unlike the many past treatments, the bacteria acquired resistance to Ampicillin and was unthwarted by its effect.

Two days later, David’s fever spiked again, yet this time he lay in his bed virtually unresponsive. With great alarm David was rushed to the ER and admitted to the hospital with Bacterial Menigitis (an infection of the lining of the brain). In young children bacterial meningitis is a life threatening infection. Perhaps it was the his early treatment in the ER or just good luck that the newer antibiotics used by the hospital remained effective, David recovered fully and plays and laughs like his young friends.

While this scenario is fictional it is based on fact. More and more infections are not successfully treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics like penicillin and tetracycline were once hearaled as the tools to end all infectious disease. What happened to this dream?

After decades of using antibiotics inappropriately, as for the common cold, microbes have developed ways to protect themselves. The more widely they are used the more rapid resistance will develop.

Today, the common Staph. aures, the that often infects wounds and causes very serious infections of the bone, heart valves and the blood is highly resistant to penicillin. Methcillin became the drug of choice for Staph infections. Today almost of one third of staph bacteria are resistant to methcillin.

Many of these drug resistant strains come from the place we go to heal, the hospital. Today going to the hospital has an added risk of acquiring a hospital borne infection. According to the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) about 20 of 100 persons admitted to a hospital will acquire an infection while in the hospital. About 40,000 persons per year will die from hospital acquired infections!

The cost of this problem is staggering. The National Foundation for Infectious Disease estimates the cost of antibiotic resistance is 4 billion annually. We can and must develop alternative health and prevention programs. Otherwise the cost in sickness, lives and dollar will continue to increase at alarming rates.