Eeeek:

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria with the potential to cause untreatable infections pose “a catastrophic threat” to the population, the chief medical officer for Britain warns in a report calling for urgent action worldwide.

Also: “The problem of microbes becoming increasingly resistant to the most powerful drugs should be ranked alongside terrorism and climate change on the list of critical risks.” One root of the problem: doctors over-prescribing, and scared patients over-demanding, antibiotics for every little thing.

Meanwhile, the CDC is warning that a new SARS-like virus has popped up in the Middle East.

Eli Sanders is The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won this,...

2 replies on “Here Come the Superbugs”

  2. Another root of the problem: EIGHTY PERCENT of antibiotics used in this country are used on factory farm animals. There is no regulation, no oversight, and no requirement to document or report how they’re used. And whenever the press talks about antibiotic misuse, they use the classic example of someone taking them for a cold, when stopping that would barely make a dent in the overuse of antibiotics. The only solution is to end factory farming (because there’s no way those animals would survive in those conditions without being pumped full of drugs), which obviously isn’t going to happen any time soon. So good luck preventing those new superbugs.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/health/u…

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