Unmasking Antibiotic Resistance
When bacteria outsmart the very drugs designed to eliminate them, we're faced with antibiotic resistance. This phenomenon isn't just a scientific curiosity; it's an ever growing health crisis that makes once-treatable infections potentially lethal. It is regarded as one of the most serious global public health threats today.
Why Is It a Global Concern?
Antibiotic resistance doesn't discriminate. It can strike anyone, regardless of age or location. Antibiotic resistance affects all ages from infants to the elderly. From pneumonia to foodborne diseases, many infections are becoming tougher to combat due to resistant bacteria. As antibiotics are being prescribed in growing quantities, the bacteria becomes more and more resistant. The effects are global, but especially in highly populated locations the threat is even bigger.
With antibiotic resistance on the rise, treatments become more prolonged, expensive, and sometimes even ineffective. Antibiotic pharmaceuticals that have been successful before, may have lost great volumes of the effects they possessed before. This leads to trials with new drugs and the cycle continues. This in turn leads to prolonged treatments and growing expenses. In the worst case scenario the antibiotics lose their effectiveness completely. This not only strains our healthcare systems but also endangers lives.
Misuse and Overuse
The rampant misuse and over-prescription of antibiotics, both in humans and animals, are fast-tracking resistance. Antibiotics are largely being prescribed in situations when it would not be necessary. For example, antibiotics prescribed for suspected sinusitis are the leading cause for the rise of antibiotic resistance. Many factors contribute to this issue such as, diagnostic uncertainty or lack of tools, lack of time in the public healthcare environment, habits and financial incentives. This just to mention a few.
Agricultural Practices
In many places, antibiotics are liberally used in livestock, not just for treating diseases but also as growth enhancers. The problem only increases as the need for food production increases. This can introduce resistant strains into our food chain, which in turn can cause the same resistant bacteria to spread within human populations.
Antibiotic resistance is a silent, but powerful enemy. As previously stated, it is one of the most serious global public health threats facing us. It requires tremendous global effort to fight this growing threat. Current habits need to be broken as well as new ideas and practises need to be introduced.
On behalf of Orcason Medical and our passionate team,
Elias Revonta
Founder & CEO