Are We Creating Superbugs?

Many bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and it appears to be our fault. 

The widespread use of antimicrobials in medicine, production of food animals, crops, and even the disinfectants in household products is considered suspect.

In 1999, the American Academy of Microbiology convened a colloquium to bring together leading scientists to review the fundamental relationships between the use of antimicrobial agents and their effects.  Their report; Antimicrobial Resistance: An Ecological Perspective, identifies numerous factors contributing to the problem and outlines recommendations for the future.  This report also states:

"As existing antimicrobial agents decline in effectiveness, infections will be more difficult and expensive to treat and epidemics harder to control.  The environmental consequences of the widespread use of antimicrobial agents are still little understood."

Bacteria are considered an integral element to life.  Most are harmless, and many are beneficial to their host.  Bacteria cover our skin and mucous membranes and line our intestinal tracts.  Many work to protect us from disease by limiting the ability of more harmful bacteria to colonize.

Bacteria are able to respond to changes in their environments because they have unique abilities to adapt and generation times are relatively short (minutes to hours for cell division).  Resistance develops when bacteria genetically mutate and/or acquire genes from other organisms; a process of events which increases due to selective pressures including the use of antimicrobials.  The altered, or resistant strains of bacteria can now flourish as there are fewer antimicrobials to affect their existence...and the circle continues.

A study by Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, revealed that the number of contaminated raw chickens in supermarkets has declined, however, 90 percent of the Campylobacter bacteria and 34 percent of the Salmonella bacteria present were resistant to one or more antibiotics. (Proper handling and cooking can eliminate these contaminants.)  [January, 2003 Issue of Consumer Reports]

And from the CDC website:

"Antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella results from the use of antimicrobial agents in food animals, and these antimicrobial resistant Salmonella are subsequently transmitted to humans, usually through the food supply. The antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolates collected from persons with Salmonella infections show more resistance to antimicrobial agents used in agriculture than to, antimicrobial agents used for the treatment of Salmonella infections in humans. Because of the adverse health consequences in humans and animals associated with the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella, there is an urgent need to emphasize non-antimicrobial infection control strategies, such as improved sanitation and hygiene, to develop guidelines for the prudent usage of antimicrobial agents, and establishment of adequate public health safeguards to minimize the development and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance and dissemination of Salmonella resistant to these agents."

Angulo F, Johnson K, Tauxe R, Cohen M. Significance and sources of antimicrobial-resistant nontyphoidal Salmonella infections in the United States. Microbial Drug Resistance 2000; 6 (1): 77-83.

"Special efforts and innovative methods must be employed to investigate the global impact of antimicrobial resistance and find more effective ways to educate health care professionals, policy makers, and the public."

Antimicrobial Resistance: An Ecological Perspective
American Academy of Microbiology; 1999

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