There are again warnings in the United States and Canada about the overuse of antibiotics. Researchers say some strains of bacteria are becoming more resistant to drug therapy. They published their findings in the most recent edition of the journal Nature Medicine. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk has more:
Transcript
There are again warnings in the United States and Canada about the overuse of antibiotics.
Researchers say some strains of bacteria are becoming more resistant to drug therapy. They
published their findings in the most recent edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk has more:
Medical experts looked at strains of bacteria that cause things like pneumonia, meningitis, and ear
infections. They found that more were becoming resistant to penicillin and erythromycin. They
noted that while strains resistant to only one of the drugs appear to have leveled off in recent
years, strains resistant to both drugs are increasing.
Donald Lowe is chief of microbiology at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital. He also has another
warning.
Lowe says, last year, many people, especially in the U.S., stockpiled the antibiotic ciprofloxicin
because of fears of a bio-terrorism attack from anthrax. He says since it was in their medicine
cabinets anyway, many used it to alleviate flu symptoms, believing it would help. But Lowe says
the cipro drugs are not effective against pneumonia.
“If you came into your doctor’s office with symptoms of pneumonia and you had been on cipro
a month, two months ago, that strain already could be resistant and your doctor doesn’t even
know it, puts you on the antibiotic and you fail therapy.”
Lowe and other researchers say it all points to the need for more regulation of antibiotic use and
finding new methods to treat drug-resistant bacteria.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.