This week I studied bacteria and antibiotics, especially antibacterial consumer products and antibiotics in medicine and farms/ One of the most interesting parts was watching a video about antibiotics in farms and a superbug outbreak at the NIH. It reminded me about the connection between the more abstract-feeling concepts we've been learning and actual human lives.
Bacteria are tiny, single-celled microorganisms. They are nearly ubiquitous - existing everywhere in the world except where they cannot find food (sterile locations). Bacteria reproduce by splitting in a process called binary fission. In this process, the DNA in the bacterium divides and replicates, allowing for two copies of the original bacterium. They can be killed by antibiotics, which prevent them from reproducing or outright kill them, but they can also be fought off naturally by our body's immune system.
Bacteria can be both harmful and beneficial to humans. On one hand, bacteria can cause serious infections and even fatal illnesses in people. On the other, they are essential to the proper functioning of our bodies (helping with digestion, populating our gut, etc.) and coming in contact with bacteria can also strengthen our immune system against future diseases or infections. Bacteria also help the environment by functioning as recyclers, breaking down nutrients to make them reusable.
Responsible Use Of Antibiotics in Humans
As I mentioned, bacteria are killed by antibiotics. While they are very useful in this regard when you're suffering from a bacterial infection, they also have some major drawbacks - which means it's incredibly important to use them responsibly. Overuse of antibiotics - when they're used for minor or viral infections - can lead to a much more terrifying phenomenon, one I mentioned in my last post: superbugs, or antibiotic resistance.Being infected by a superbug is far worse, and has far worse consequences than dealing with the type of minor infection that often cause people to badger doctors for antibiotics. Because of this, it is important for both doctors and patients to understand that antibiotics must be used responsibly - only when absolutely necessary.
Responsible Use of Antibiotics In AnimalsThis week we watched a video by FRONTLINE explaining the use of antibiotics in farms. There, they are used to enhance growth and keep livestock healthy, especially when animals are crowded together in unsanitary conditions. Initially, nothing seemed wrong with this practice - after all, it was minimizing disease and increasing the production of meat. However, as we began to know more antibiotic resistance and other problems that are increasingly likely to be linked to antibiotic use on farms, scientists began to conduct studies trying to prove a link between the two.
Unfortunately, farmers are not required to release to the public or even to government organizations like the FDA how much and what type of antibiotics they use on their animals. There is a clear connection between this pretty much unregulated use of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in humans - even more than the antibiotics we prescribe for ourselves, we are consuming huge amounts of antibiotic-tainted meat and, if you live near farms, being exposed to a lot of antibiotics in manure runoff. So, not only is it important that we consciously use prescribed antibiotics responsibly, but we also must be aware of the antibiotics that are used, irresponsibly, in the meat we eat.
Antibacterial Soaps and Products
Beyond medical antibiotics and antibiotics found in farms, there is yet another way we and our environment are exposed to antibiotics, specifically antibacterials. Since the initial surge of popularity for antibiotics, there have also been a large number of other products, ranging from soaps to baby toys, marketing themselves as antibacterial.I believe we should absolutely minimize the amount of antibacterial soaps and products available on the market, excepting their use in hospitals and food service settings. As we learned in class, many of the compounds used in these products have far more harms than benefits. A recent FDA ban removed nineteen 'antibacterial' chemicals whose use has been proven to risk scrambling hormones in children and promoting antibiotic resistance. This ban seems like a very sensible first step, because while it definitely doesn't make all the changes necessary to prevent antibacterials from endangering human health, it does begin to respond to valid concerns about the safety of the products.
Misconceptions Within Health and Germs
Even though antibiotic resistance and superbugs pose a major threat to global public health, a shocking number of people have blatant misconceptions about the topic and antibiotics in general. Below are three common misconceptions about antibiotics explained.
Misconception #1: Antibiotics treat viral infections like colds or the flu.Reality: Antibiotics will do nothing to treat colds or the flu, because they are both viral infections and antibiotics kill only bacteria. Using them for viral illnesses can lead to bacterial resistance.
Misconception #2: Antibiotic resistance is when the body no longer responds to drugs.
Reality: Wrong! Antibiotic resistance is when the bacteria are resistant to antibiotics, not the body.
Misconception #3: You can stop taking antibiotics as soon as you feel better.
Reality: Antibiotics need the full prescribed time to work and completely kill of the bacteria. Not doing this may cause relapses and antibiotic resistance.
Pandemic
This week in class we played a board game called Pandemic. Pandemic is a cooperative board game based on the premise that four life-threatening diseases have emerged around the world, each threatening to wipe out a certain region. Every player has a role (e.g. researcher, quarantine specialist, medic) and everyone playing works as a team to cure or even eradicate all four diseases before the time runs out.
It relates to what we're learning about in class because been learning about contagious diseases. public health and the stress of deadly outbreaks (when we watched the clip "Outbreak at the NIH"), and this game showed us that feeling in a way that made it feel very real.My favorite part of the game was the need for teamwork, because it made it necessary for everyone to calm down and work together to treat and cure the diseases.
If antibiotic resistance was added to the game, it would be a lot harder, because diseases we thought were cured would come back after a few turns. It would also add more complexity to the game, and some player handicaps would make it much harder to win
I think another valuable aspect of Pandemic is that is introduces public health and the difficulty of treating contagious diseases in the form of a fun game. Everyone in my family likes to play Pandemic, but chief among them is my brother, and I think he has learned quite a bit from playing the game. This is what he thinks about Pandemic:
Me: What have you learned from Pandemic?
William: If you don't treat diseases they spread really fast.
Me: What's the biggest challenge?
William: Curing the disease when you only have a few people. Also getting around the world fast enough.
Me: What if after a certain amount of turns a disease became 'uncured?'
William: It'd be super hard. I don't think I'd ever win.
