Antibiotics in farms, a very delicate issue both as regards the welfare of animals and as regards the formation of bacteria super resistant to conventional medicines. Reducing animals to a mere source of income by locking them up in farms and giving them powerful antibiotics can lead to the spread of diseases that will backfire on humanity.
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Antibiotics on farms, a very sensitive issue both as regards the welfare of animals and as regards the training of super resistant bacteria to conventional medicines. Reducing animals to a mere source of income by locking them up in farms and giving them potent antibiotics can lead to the spread of diseases that will turn against humanity.
A new one came from the United States two weeks ago warning about antibiotic abuse negli poultry farms. The majors US poultry farms they administer antibiotics to animals every day, as a rule, with the feed, even in the absence of diseases. According to experts, similar doses favor it development of super drug resistant bacteria used to treat patients. The point is, farmers give animals antibiotics that belong to the same drug category as humans, according to the FDA classifications.
Today, 80% of the antibiotics used in the US would not be given to patients, but to farm animals. A vicious circle which probably allows companies to produce more, but which risks endangering everyone's health.
La California began to move against the tide. The governor of California has in fact just voted the first state law to reduce the use of antibiotics on farms and encouraged lawmakers to find new ways to prevent antibiotic abuse.
Some consumers and environmental groups considered the bill too weak, as it was very similar to the existing measures indicated by the FDA (Thu le Fda guidelines in PDF) and too weak to bring about concrete change. Hence, new ways will be found to reduce the use of antibiotics on farms and that California will continue to work towards this, in the hope that it can be an example for other states.
According to a group of US scientists,abuse of antibiotics in farms and in medicine it is putting human life at risk and skyrocketing the costs of public health. There is now talk of a real crisis in health and the healthcare system, so much so that infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria cost only hospitals. 20 billion dollars a year. Now there are no longer any doubts: the continuous and regular administration of antibiotics to farm animals in non-therapeutic doses (and therefore routine, even in the absence of diseases) is contributing to the resistance of bacteria to drugs.
But it doesn't stop there. According to the latest WHO report on global resistance to antibiotics, some diseases that seemed to have disappeared or are easy to cure may come back and come back to haunt us, with great force, precisely because of the abuse of antibiotics in farms. Some diseases, such as tuberculosis, which became treatable in the past, are now often fatal.
And the problem it does not only affect developing countries and areas of the world where health care is scarce. The alarm is already here and the following are just some of the infections that may come back to threaten us due to our irresponsible behavior. In the name of profit the intensive breeding they not only exploit animals to death, but endanger the health of all humanity.
Index
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is usually cured within 6 months by prescribing specific therapy based on once very powerful antibiotics. Now, however, bacteria are proving increasingly resistant to conventional treatments, so much so that in countries such as Africa hospitals are forced to discharge tuberculosis patients because they are unable to treat them with drugs that should instead be effective.
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease that has been taboo over the centuries. For some time now it has been considered easily treatable and certainly not a threat. Once she was treated with the penicillin, but now the bacteria that cause the disease have developed levels of resistance so high that there is currently only one drug capable of counteracting them. But even this antibiotic, known as ceftriaxone, is becoming less effective.
Klebsiella
You may have never heard of this bacterium which is actually quite common. It can indeed cause meningitis, diarrhea, pneumonia and urinary tract infections. It has already been included in a group of bacteria known as Escape, due to their ability to avoid the effects of the antibiotics used against them. Also part of this group is the Staphylococcus aureus.
typhoid fever
Typhoid vaccinations make us think that this disease has now been eradicated, but in reality it still affects 21,5 million people every year around the world, especially in developing countries. Travel and globalization increase the potential for infection. More than 5000 people fall ill with typhus in the US every year due to contaminated food and drink. Typhoid fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, which appears to be increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
Syphilis and diphtheria
Syphilis is currently being treated with a single injection of penicillin, but resistance to this antibiotic has already developed in the case of other diseases. Diphtheria, accompanied by fever and chills, is widespread above all in developing countries, but the risk of contagion is always present, as well as that of the development of new resistance of bacteria to antibiotics.
What can we do to limit the problem of antibiotic resistance? First of all, as per the subject of this article, it would be good to prohibit the useless and unnecessary use of antibiotics in farms.
Something we can do anyway too we ordinary people. We do not take antibiotics when it is not necessary. Antibiotics should only be taken if prescribed by a doctor e doctors themselves should only point to them as a cure when patients really need them and in the absence of alternatives. For example, antibiotics, which fight bacteria, they are useless in the case of the flu, which is caused by a virus. A greater commitment on the part of all could ensure that treatable diseases do not backfire and become fatal decades later.
Specialties Thu the report WHO 2014 on antibiotic resistance.
Marta Albè
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