M6.6 Antibiotic Use
Antibiotic resistance is actually a topic that I am quite fond of. Considering I currently work in a pediatric cardiovascular ICU, a majority of our patients have some form of antibiotic resistance due to chronic usage. However, it's interesting that even livestock could be considered to have antimicrobial resistance as well. Chronic use of fractionated antibiotics is utilized for quicker growth of livestock. However, the constant use of these medications do not help heal the animals, but rather promotes strains of bacteria that are resistant to one or multiple antibiotics when animals are truly sick in the future. When these livestock are transported for preparation and consumption, these antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria can be given to local farmers, meat plant workers and the general community. There are many immunocompromised people in the community, such as children, elderly, oncology and transplant patients, who simply cannot take this increased risk. Perhaps further community education and even boycotts can help factory farms reduce their usage of non-therapeutic antibiotic use.
I too am interested in antibiotic resistence. It can be a huge threat to our chronically ill patients. The hospital teams have gotten so much better about drawing cultures and choosing target specific therapies, encouraging breathing exercises, hand washing all to reduce infection and improper use of antibiotics. It is amazing that the same kind of regulation is not enforced in the agriculture industry as it seemingly has a more broad and direct affect on the public health of its consumers.
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